I think that one of the reasons Mass Effect (2) is so immersive and engaging is the relationships we develop with characters. We begin to feel like we really 'know them.' No small part of that is due to reading body language and expressions. Coupled with effective voice acting, characters expressing themselves and their definite personalities is one of the areas that I feel ME really excelled in. Even with Tali, whose expressions are completely impossible to see, her body language is exaggerated notably to compensate and it all comes together to give the player a view into what kind of 'person' they are interacting with.
When it comes to Shepard, this isn't so much the case. Shepard is, most of the time, wearing a neutral mask of an expression. His/her body language is often not apparent and as a result, Shepard can come across as extremely stiff in an immersion breaking way that I would almost compare to the Uncanny Valley. There is the occasional moment where Shepard will make an expression but they tend to be brief and few and far between. A lot of the time Shepard is a little robotic and that's disappointing to me for a couple of reasons.
a) immersion
following the storyc) I screencap the hell out of my Shepard for artistic reference and it is very very hard to get good references when she is making a face like :| all the time.
Shepard is an interesting and also somewhat volatile element to work with when it comes to expression, because they are so tied to the player and thusly open to interpretation. His/her looks are customisable. His/her outlook on the situations at hand are also heavily variable. On the one hand I can see why Shepard is often left a little neutered when it comes to expressions. From one perspective it may aid the player in 'filling in the blanks.' This is supposedly one of the reasons why the protagonist is mute in the Zelda and Dragon Warrior series; it allows the player to draw their own conclusions about how the protagonist thinks and feels. Dragon Age: Origins had a huge case of Link Syndrome too, but the negative effects were greatly lessened because so little emphasis was given on the player's response. (DA:O characters did not have a voice and thus there was no need to switch the camera back to them for a reaction/dialogue.)
On the other hand, I believe that BioWare is talented and perceptive enough not to need to rely on this method. If a response to a character's line is decidedly Paragon/Renegade/On The Fence/Snarky, what are the most likely reasons for choosing this response? What does the recorded audio response hint at in terms of emotion/expression? What was the V/A doing at the time of the recording?
Obviously I don't know everything about this issue. I am not trained in this. But, I am an artist and I do pay close attention to facial expressions -- it's important! I think allowing Shepard to be 'acted' a little more expressively would add that much more of a level of depth and realism to the game.
... And would make for some much better screenshots. I know you guys at BioWare can do it, and do it well.
Thoughts on Shepard's expressions? (In before That Face by mshep)
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