12 réponses à ce sujet

[CallistaLorian]

I realise this question has been posed many a time, but I've read so many threads and I still can't decide based on my own individual experience. Plus, this is my first (and likely only) playthrough of the ME trilogy, so I'm massively torn between Ashley and Kaidan (I read an spoiler so I know you have to choose between them), and getting rid of one of them for good is really hard as I like both characters equally, and would like to see how both of them progress throughout the series.

However, I'm wondering if - for the sake of continuation in ME2 and ME3 - whether saving Kaidan as a female Shepard will make for a more interesting story?

I'm playing as a Paragon, Colonist, War Hero, Vanguard, Shock Trooper. I'm about halfway through the story I think (I've done Therum and Feros, doing a few side quests before I head to Noveria). I tend to use a combination of different characters in my squad, but the only person I literally NEVER use is Ashley. I just find her abilities expendable because of my own class, whereas the other characters all have combinations / specialisations that I find useful (especially Garrus, Kaidan and Liara). Tali is good when you need Tech abilities and I find Wrex balances her out nicely.

Initially, I didn't really like Ashley (her apparent 'racism', bible bashing, calling me 'skipper' & b*tchiness (eg. towards Liara )), however, having talked to her a little more and learning her character history, I have actually warmed to her a lot. She's just a normal girl, and I think her wariness of the Alien races is understandable given her family situation. I don't think she's racist, just inexperienced, and I would never hold someone's religious beliefs against them despite being an Atheist myself (as long as they aren't fanaticists). I'm still a bit wary of her (I feel like there is tension between her and Femshep?! Not sure why) but feel her character is a lot more rounded now.

As for Kaidan, he seems to have a lot of baggage re: the girl back in Biotic boarding school. I get that it shows how loyal he is and explains why he's now so controlled, but I'm not sure I like the idea of my Shep's loverboy being hung up over another lady! I also wish he would loosen up a bit!

As yet I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to romance Liara or Kaidan. I've kind of been stringing them both along. I've heard lots of people expounding the benefits of a Liara romance, and I'm sort of intrigued at how their union would work,but as a straight girl, I don't really have much interest in the lesbian option.

So, I'm leaning more towards Kaidan, but equally I haven't really felt a major connection to him yet. He's very sweet and the most attractive option, plus his dedication to Femshep is obvious. However, I'd prefer someone with more of a sense of humour and a bit more ... I dunno, pizzaz?! He always seems a bit tense and morose. I actually think if Ash was a dude it'd be perfect! I'm at the point in the game where both Liara and Kaidan have made their feelings obvious. However, Liara has said she doesn't know whether she is 'ready' for it yet, plus I feel a bit icky pursuing her just because I'm curious lol ... so on that basis I'm even more inclined to sex up Kaidan instead. If I save him instead of Ash, I assume this romance will carry over into ME2.

So ... who should I save when it comes to it? Here are the facts:

• Kaidan is a more useful team-member for me.
• Ashley is more of a personality, and has a sense of humour. I can relate to her more, with her tight-knit family and sisters.
• I can't have sexy-time with Ashley, and even if I could I probably wouldn't because she's a chick.
• Kaidan is overall more likable, even if he is a bit depressing.

Does Kaidan's character get fleshed out in ME2 and ME3 if you save him?

Is Ashley's story arc and / or her relationship with Femshep and other crew members interesting enough to warrant keeping her on?

Are their any better options than Kaidan for a heterosexual Femshep in ME2 and ME3?

NB: I'm not really the sort of person who enjoys going back and playing a game again - to be honest I don't really have the time and / or the patience to do so, and once I've played a story (as much as I appreciate the experience can be very different with different playstyles) I'm not particularly interested in going back to it differently. So essentially, THIS will be my experience playing the game, my canon if you will, and I really want to get the most out of the experience from a role-playing and enjoyment perspective.

So, basically I'm going to base this decision on the experience of others who have played the entire trilogy, and know how these choices effect the story in ME2 and ME3.

Sorry for all the rambling questions, I would love to hear your input!!

Modifié par CallistaLorian, 19 janvier 2013 - 06:33 .

[Belisarius25]

I'll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible (also, disclaimer, most of my play-throughs are male and Ashley's - by far - my preferred romance)

(1) Both characters/plotlines get consumed by a larger plot they're involved in from early-mid ME2 until the middle of ME3. I guess you could call the part "fleshing out", although your own opinion is the only one that matters of course. There's some additional stuff in ME3 but (in my opinion), a lot of potential unique character development is sacrificed to the overarching plot. You'll have to be patient regardless of who survive, even with a romanced Kaidan.

(2) In my opinion, not really. If they'd kept Ashley on the same track she was in ME1, there would have been potential for FemShep/Ashley being best friends or something (particularly a paragon Shepard), but see my first point for why a lot of that was lost. There's still a few non-romanced male/female Shepard and Ashley scenes in ME3 (and one...uh...meeting in ME2) but nothing extraordinary and if the romance side of things is of interest well... see below point.

(3) There are three new heterosexual options in ME2. All three require you to start them in ME2 if you want to have the relationship in ME3 (Kaidan/Ashley/Liara can have a romance started in ME3 even if you've never romanced them before). One is particularly popular among fans and you might like it. The other two....have issues for other reasons. Kaidan will likely be either your top option or the second best in ME3 (avoiding spoilers).

Overall it sounds like Kaidan's probably the better choice. Both characters get some...interesting...treatment for large swaths of the series so if you end up liking him you should be prepared for that. The big reason I recommend Kaidan is that you may want to have his romance option in ME3, and obviously Ashley's not going to be 'useful' in that regard. If Kaidan is not around (and your ME2 romances weren't started/don't work out), female Shepard is basically out of options.

If it helps, even if you're basically picking Kaidan for the metagaming reason of having him around for ME3, Ashley still gets a happy ending (leaving aside being dead, of course )

Modifié par Belisarius25, 19 janvier 2013 - 08:13 .

[CallistaLorian]

Belisarius25 wrote...

If it helps, even if you're basically picking Kaidan for the metagaming reason of having him around for ME3, Ashley still gets a happy ending

Thank you, this really helped - and I appreciate you leaving out spoilers! I can see what you're getting at from Ash's perspective - she becomes a hero and essentially redeems her family name. She dies with the knowledge that her life served a purpose. Do you think the same could be said if you sacrifice Kaidan? Is it a fitting end to his life? 

[Belisarius25]

I'd say he does - he doesn't quite have the nuanced background story Ashley does, but he has a heroic death and his post-death stuff (which you find out in ME2 for either character) is nice, but nothing major -  I liked Ashley's a bit better but I usually have her as the survivor so it's not like I'm the best judge 


Mainly my previous post was coming from the assumption that having Kaidan around as a potential love interest in ME3 was at least somewhat important. It's metagaming, but female Shepard in ME3 does have somewhat limited options unless you pick the "right" romance option in ME2 given that you don't want your Shepard to romance Liara and are looking for a male partner.

Modifié par Belisarius25, 19 janvier 2013 - 09:58 .

[capn233]

I always play as manShep... and I always saved Ash on Virmire because I am a bad commander like that, and so my choice was easy.

Already mostly answered above, but probably from a metagame perspective it makes more sense to save Kaidan as femShep if you want to have decent romance options that aren't women or monogendered-psuedowomen.

I played one new character game as manShep in ME3 so Kaidan would be alive and I as a straight manShep my options were Liara and... well Liara. So if you save Ash, then don't like any ME2 LI's in ME2 (although actually femShep gets sort of screwed in that regard as well), then you would be in a similar predicament playing a straight femShep.

[PsiFive]

If I was going to get it down to one playthrough with a Femshep only, which is just about impossible for me, then I might go for the one where she developed the romance with Kaiden only to feel forced to leave him to sacrifice his life on Virmire. I'm fond of how that story developed because after that things just get worse and worse for the poor woman and justify a real swing from mostly paragon in ME1 to mostly renegade by the end of ME2 and on.

[ViciousCargo]

If you want a romance with Kaiden then saving Ashley has no benefit for you. However, if you are a femshep, and you don't like Kaiden then why save him? From my estimation, Kaiden is useless. His biotics are terrible (I prefer Liara), you don't need him to decrypt anything (enter Tali and Garrus). My experience has been Ashley is more useful as a soldier, I use her as a tank, and she has never disappointed me. But that's my experience. I don't have my femsheps romance Kaiden, I save them for Garrus in ME2.

Modifié par ViciousCargo, 22 janvier 2013 - 12:11 .

[HolyAvenger]

I think Alenko's a decent character actually. I have one FShep PT where he's alive and romanced, and one where he died on Virmire.

[honeyiscool]

There's only one reason to keep Kaidan alive, IMO, and that's that he's an uncommonly good tank in ME3. However, as a Vanguard, you're never going to be turtling in ME3, so who really cares, right?

I just feel like Ashley has more of an interesting story with her family and all that. I really like how all that comes around in ME3. That said, I've always played Femshep and I always keep Ashley alive and have only used Ashley in my thorough play throughs, so I don't know how Kaidan's story gets fleshed out in ME3, but I always got the feeling that he is just a military lifer without much personality who gets lots of headaches.

[Stathis1992]

Is there any point to save Ashley instead of Kaidan in general? NO, Kaidan by far more useful and better guy.Period.

[TARITARI]

I like Ashley and she actually has a personality and better lines but I don't feel like that is Kaidan's fault. He didn't get much attention from the writers.
I guess us girls are lucky to have any straight love interest possibility at all and I guess it was too much to ask to make much of an effort to make him appealing. (He, at least, is not a loser or too damaged like the romance options in DA II. )
I, like you, did not like his hang-up on the other woman. A smart man would never talk so glowingly about a (LONG!) past love interest to a woman they are interested in. It shows a lack of tact at the very least. If he wasn't (apparently) the only available male in the known universe I would have moved on right there.

[Sinophile]

If you are a hardcore ME fan, you'll play through more than once anyway. I personally chose Ashley simply because she compliments my adept better than Kaidan.

[thisisme8]

I feel that story-wise they are equally fleshed out and have their own merits.

Ashley is a slight xenophobe with the "win back my family's honor" that gets a bit more added to it in ME3.

Kaidan has the whole, "been betrayed and abused in the past so I have trust issues" deal going on.

Neither of them are as obviously interesting as Garrus and Wrex, per se - but both are great "subtle" stories.

In terms of squad usefulness, Ashley brings more tankiness and firepower than Kaidan, but you lose hacking/decryption and a heal from him.   -in ME1

In ME3, I hate to say it, but Kaidan is a walking tank who can remove enemy shields and set up/set off BE's - which makes him more versatile. Ashley is better if you just need someone to shoot things (which, with the right weapon setup can be very useful), even though Kaidan is almost as strong in that aspect as well since both can carry AR's, only Ashley gets the sniping rifle while Kaidan has a pistol.

EDIT:  Also, Reave.  Kaidan's second squad power that you can learn is super fun and useful.  Enemies can't dodge it, has a stackable debuff, and is a primer and detonator for BE's - on a super low cooldown.  If you could evolve it for extra damage on BE's, it would be the best biotic power in the game.

Modifié par thisisme8, 16 février 2013 - 06:53 .