Hi all! I'm new to these forums, but I am definitely a Miranda supporter.
I first heard about the Mass Effect series from a friend right before ME2 came out. At the time I only had a PS3, no 360 or PC, so it didn't really matter. But then I heard that Yvonne Strahovski was in it, and I must admit, as a big Chuck fan my interest was piqued.
Towards the end of March I finally got a game-worthy pc setup, and played through the first Mass Effect. It was epic, and I was totally drawn in. After experiencing a romance with Ashley Williams I realized that the option would probably be available with the Miranda character too. After playing through ME, I decided to stick with Ashley if she was available in ME2, and "stay faithful" if she was not but the subject was brought up. I found that Ash was a really well done character, for a videogame, who I could feel that my Shepard had a connection with.
By this point, I had actively decided not to go with Miranda, regardless of Ashley. I'm sort of a reflexive person this way. I got interested in ME partially because of Yvonne/Miranda, therefore she was off limits, I didn't want my "first impression" to interfere with how I experienced the game (illogical I know).
Things didn't go as planned. The problem was that while Ashley was a good character for a video game, Miranda was a good character period. I still didn't want to go in that direction though. I was thinking that romancing an alien or a psycho would show that my character was into more than just looks. But as I progressed through the game, I found that Miranda's story was just so much better than everyone elses. She was better than they were.
Hearing her backstory was interesting but nothing special. It had depth equivilent to the ME1 storylines, and I had already seen that with Ash. The loyalty mission is what really did it for me. Miranda went from "Genetically engineered femme fatale who works with Cerberus" to this completely three dimensional character. She needed Cerberus because Cerberus was protecting her sister, and because cerberus was all that she knew. She didn't really have anyone else or know anywhere else to go. If she left Cerberus both her and her sister would be endangered.
This mission did a great job at showcasing Miranda: Her desire to give a normal life to her sister; the line "I don't really have any friends outside of Cerberus... and you"; her staunch adherence to the idea that Niket would never betray her; the moral crisis that came as a result of Niket's betrayal; the "valid" reason Niket had for betraying her; the ending scene where she goes to her sister and she cries! and then of course the "thank you" to Shepard that comes after was quite nice.
It's a mission which could easily survive on its own as a short film. By the end of it, I was sold.
Miranda isn't a simple character. Her backstory has multiple threads and they all affect her current life, not just who she is but how she has to live. She's not easy to figure out. I can sum up many of the other romance options quite easily. I cannot sum up Miranda nearly so quickly. I've read some threads complaining that it's more difficult to get Miranda into a romance, and you can lose your chance much easier. To me that speaks to the brilliance of the gameplay. Her character is strong enough that it demands her romance travel along a slightly different path from that of the more passive LIs, and that the game accomodate that. Its not a romance that you suddenly realize happens when you see a dialogue option. By the time you see the dialogue options appear you've already seen the connection between Miranda and Shepard, you knew it was coming. To make it better, you also see how the events they go through together create a strong bond of friendship that acts as a foundation for the whole relationship.
Modifié par MrNose, 17 avril 2010 - 08:45 .
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I can imagine something going wrong (stuck zipper?) and her laughing about it.
:wub:
