Iwakura-Lain wrote...
implodinggoat wrote...
What I'm saying is that the underlying premise of LOTSB isn't as good as the underlying premise behind Arrival. Frankly I'm a fan of Liara's character and the premise of her becoming obsessed with and then hunting the Shadow Broker always struck me as being wildly out of character and poorly justified.
The plotline of LOTSB itself is better executed; but it was held back by the fact that Liara didn't fit the role she was playing. Liara's dialogue is great and wonderfully delivered though and the moments in LOTSB where she acts like herself are especially great.
In essence the underlying plot in LOTSB is based on a faulty premise; but is brilliantly executed. While the plot of Arrival is based on an excellent premise; but isn't executed as brilliantly.
I'd say calling Liara's LoTSB persona 'out of character' is tricky business. Perhaps it's even a misnomer. Being a Liara fan myself (I was liarafan, on the old boards, LOL), of course I noticed the often sharp change in her character. I soon not only came to accept it, though, but actually embraced it; because I realized Liara had matured. Grown harder, bordering on bitter even, at times. Yet this change did not bother me; instead I welcomed the thought Bioware had put into developing her character.
When we first met Liara, she was truly just a child, by Asari standards. And having unearthed Propthean artifacts for the majority of her 'teen' life, in as good as total isolation--safely tucked away from the universe and its harsh ways--had stunned her emotional progress a good deal as well. So, by the time we get reacquainted with Liara, in LoTSB, she's no longer needy; no longer adoring Shepard like a love-sick puppy (or close to it). Rather, the harsh realities of life have caught up with her. In a relatively short time-span she has lost two of her best friends: Shepard and her partner, Feron. The latter to the Shadow Broker. So it's not really all that strange she has a legitimite beef with him. In the absence of love, hatred tends to fill up the empty spaces of one's heart, you know. And not even saying Liara was truly hating, really; just that her bitterness was there for a good reason; and aiming her wrath at the Shadow Broker seemed more than a bit justified, to me.
Throughout LoTSB Liara starts to melt a bit, finally opening up to Shepard again; and we get a glimpse of why she has changed so. I thought that was part of said brilliance of LoTSB. In my (uneducated) estimation, no other RPG has ever allowed a 'regular' to undergo such growth (and growth isn't always for the better: sometimes people grow a mite bitter, like Liara). In the end, the 'old' Liara appears not to have been gone at all: she was just hidden deep within. What we humans would call our 'inner child,' buried underneath layers of adult hurts. So, to keep with that, you could say ME1 merely showed us Liara's 'outer child.' The same Liara, though, in both instances.
*SPOILER*
The premise of Arrival, come to think of it, indeed wasn't bad. The whole super nova thingy, and its possible ramifications, could have been worked out a lot better, though. It was all done so hastily: fly in, do your thing, kill 300,000 Batarians in the process, and fly out in time for breakfast. I just couldn't get emotionally invested in their lives. I watched the hostages die in ME1's Bring Down the Sky, btw. That really impacted me. What's the difference? Bring Down the Sky was good story-telling--Arrival wasn't. It all went too fast. I wouldn't have minded seeing the Normandy 2 being chased by furious Batarians or some such. At least something to bind me, emotionally, to the magnitude and scope of the decision to vaporize an entire, inhabited system!
P.S. I must say that I've always been partial to Illium design. And I think Bioware went truly out of their way in LoTSB, city-design wise. And the interior decorations of the homes were simply fantastic, too. Arrival had none of that 'thrill' (Kasumi's Stolen Memory, btw, gave me similar chills, design-wise; be it on a smaller scale).
P.P.S. I'm not discounting the distinct possibility that a small portion of being disappointment in Arrival actually is simply feeling the sadness of this DLC having been the last of its kind. 
Great stuff Iwakura-Lain. I feel the same way completely
You poured my feelings out in writing.
This is why i love Mass Effect and BioWare. You actually care about the characters and the story, you get so close to your Shepard and your whole team and for ME2 last DLC to have none of that was just.. sad
I missed my team and what you said, it didn't feel like much to "kill" a whole lot of Batarians. It was too fast and too short...
Nevertheless, i enjoyed it cos it's Mass Effect baby, yeah!
)<3 it would have been awesome though if the last Mass Effect 2 DLC would have left you your mouth wide open with the sorta feeling that you wasn't quite sure at first what was that super awesome amazing thing you just experienced! And then just screamed WOOOOW how aweome and cried and smiled like crazy cos you were so happy.
Kinda like i felt when finished playing Mass Effect 2
Though there were some sad thoughts also soon afterwards cos it ENDED..like "what now?! is me3 coming soon"
But hey, Mass Effect 3 is coming and i just caaaaaan't wait!
Modifié par kabu, 31 mars 2011 - 05:31 .
Retour en haut
