Eterna5 wrote...
Ieldra2 wrote...
Eterna5 wrote...
Ieldra2 wrote...
What I think? That the perception of the writers that specific story arcs became more important in the context of the main theme "organics vs. synthetics" was not sufficiently communicated to the players. The geth/quarian conflict and Legion's story do not appear to be more important than, say, the genophage arc. The first hint we get of the organic/synthetic theme being more important is is at the end of the Reaper Base mission on Rannoch.
But isn't the Reaper vs all organic life a prime example of Synthetic vs organic theme which was present in each installment?
In ME1 the theme was intact, yes. But the reimagining of the Reapers as "organic constructs" (EDI on the SM) did a lot of damage to that idea at a critical junction of the story. Had they stuck with the cut dialogue and made Legions' conversation about the nature of the Reapers more accessible, the idea may have held.
I feel as though Bioware considers the Resper threat to be a chief example of organic vs Synthetic, even if we disagree.
the story looks like a classic example of "good vs. evil" and the reapers and the geth, are only "synthetic by accident". the problem is, that the plot of mass effect would still work, if the reapers would not be synthetics.
the good vs evil nature of the plot is too obvious and the writers missed the opportunity, to clarify the organic vs. synthetic threat. the geth may be synthetics but they are also part of the reaper forces - they become part of the "evil" in our scenario - the fact that they are synthetics is now minor. while we have some sidemissions that show us that synthetic intelligence is a threat, it does not appear to be the main plot - the reapers and their cycles of extinction overshadow this - in addition, those hints hide in sidequests.
it does not help either, that the geth are not shown as a universal evil either - they acted in self defense and that makes their action acceptable to a certain degree. this plots theme is more like "you cant just create and destroy life as you wish" or "dont play god, if you cant face the repercussions". again, this plot would have worked, with the geth being genetically engineered organics.
while the "organic vs synthetic" theme still is present in mass effect 1, it looses its grip in mass effect 2. suddenly, we have a friendly ai on board our ship - that fact that edi teases joker makes her even more "human". the borders between organic and synthetic blurr. the protagonist is now "half synthetic" but there is no personal conflict that would reflect the "organic vs synthetic" theme. shepard gets along pretty well. the theme becomes more and more unimportant, the further the story proceeds. shepard upgrades him/herself with more and more tech, edi is unshackled and shows signs of humor and comradship and the reapers are suddenly organic/synthetic hybrids, who use organic/synthetic hybrids as their agents (collectors).
at this point, the "good vs. evil" theme is strong and established while the "organic vs synthetic" theme is almost dismantled.
if the organic vs. synthecit theme was meant to be the overarching plot, the writers did not a good job in mediating it.
Modifié par Dr_Extrem, 21 mars 2013 - 11:05 .
Retour en haut
;)
