Who did you hook up with? (Mass-Effect series)

[sclpls]

I made the grave error of not playing FemShep in ME (I wasn't up on any ME news and criticism, it was just a game that my wife told me I really needed to play). In the first game I didn't romance anyone. I was roleplaying Shepard as a kind of emotional Switzerland trying to avoid any social connections that would impair his ability to keep the Normandy crew operating as an independent entity, and that extended to him being too cagey to introduce romance into his life.

 

With the events of the second game though, I decided it made sense that Shepard would be emotionally vulnerable at this point, and so I allowed him to become emotionally attached to Tali. Say what you will about the crassness of Bioware sex scenes (because you're absolutely right), but I found their exchanges to be genuinely touching and sweet.

[Dewar]

In Dragon Age Origins things got really hot and heavy between me and Alistair. It started out innocently enough but one thing led to another and I ended up taking his virginity and blowing his fucking mind.

 

Then I got bored. He was just too inexperienced and couldn't satisfy my radical dwarf sexual desires. So I moved on to Leliana and within one conversation I had fallen deeply in love with her. The only problem is that I never bothered to mention any of this to Alistair. Before I knew it gossip had spread around the camp that me and Leliana were an 'item' and she forced me to make a tough decision. If I wanted to get anywhere with her I would need to break up with Alistair. I was torn. On the one hand Alistair was a nice enough guy and I didn't want to hurt his feelings. On the other hand, he couldn't give me the radical dwarf sex I desired. So I went with my baser instincts and kicked him to the curb. Then me and Leliana lived happily ever after.

 

In Dragon Age, I was too good at the romancing and hit a bug where I got too high of a relationship with Leliana before her "loyalty" mission hit, so that mission never came and thus the romance didn't consummate. By the time I realized the problem I'd already made it through a couple of tough endgame fights that I didn't feel like repeating, so that's the way I ended. It felt very realistic, a connection was there but things just didn't line up right, even if it was a glitch that caused it. When it came time to play Dragon Age: Inquisition, I went back and forth on how to setup the stuff in the Keep. I ended up fudging it and saying Lelania and the Hero of Ferelden had a relationship. In the end, it was the right choice because Lelania has a few lines here and there missing the Hero, and it's still a wistful missed connection. 

 

At some point I had intended my actual Inquisitor to be all business, but so much of the interesting dialog is to be had behind the <3 options, that I ended up flirting around a bit. I had a fling with Iron Bull, but despite being told that it was fun scene, it didn't actually deliver what I wanted out of a relationship. Now I'm about to fight a duel for Josephine's hand in marriage, and thinking I should have kept with my original idea of just not bothering *shrug*

[GavinTheAlmighty]

My FemShep was all about Liara, stayed loyal in 2, and reconnected in 3.  The options in ME1 for a female Shepard were Liara or Kaidan, and Kaiden was so boring.  

 

In ME2, the options for a female Shepard were either heterosexual, which my Shepard wasn't, or Kelly or Samara.  Samara is a painfully boring character, and the romantic language with Kelly started way too early in the conversations with her.  I'm pretty sure it's during your second conversation with her where, if you constantly pick top-right, she expresses a sexual interest.  It felt overly artificial and I couldn't connect with the character.

 

In ME3, I think I accidentally let Kelly Chambers die when Cerberus attacked (I told her to stay on the Citadel, and that results in her death).  Traynor was wonderful and hilarious, but I felt guilty about pursuing anything.  With Allers, I remember there's one scene where she interviews you in your cabin, and if you select the right options to give her information, she says "Careful Commander, you keep feeding me like this and I'll follow you home" and it was like HNNNNG SO SEXY.  

 

There was something about Jack that drove me wild though, even though a female Shepard cannot romance Jack.  Instead, I made her part of my murder squad.

[Gwardinen]

I got a bigger kick out of the other romances, such as Edi/Joker and Tali/Garrus.

 

Me too, actually. I also include Aveline's romance in Dragon Age II (if you manage to help her get it started).

 

For my part, I didn't romance anyone in 1, got together with Miranda in 2 and stayed loyal to her in 3. Mostly that all came about through just sticking to my hard-but-smart Renegade male Shepard persona.

[Griddlelol]

No one. My Shepherd was too busy murdering aliens and AI to have time for such frivolous things as romantic relationships. 

 

In persona 4 on the other hand, I think I romanced every single girl. Because fuck choosing. 

[Sno]

Nobody picked Tali in 2 and 3? Nobody else at all?

[Gormongous]

Nobody picked Tali in 2 and 3? Nobody else at all?

 

I picked Tali in Mass Effect 2 but wasn't really impressed. I didn't play the last game in the series.

[Bjorn]

I always thought the logistics of romancing Tali were a bit complicated/dangerous for her, so never pursued that route.

[feelthedarkness]

Tali doesn't get down with ladies, but she was too good a friend, and my perpetual party member. I also didn't want to spoil the mystery of what's under the suit. I also agree on the strength of the non-romantic relationships, which I think were generally more robust/better fleshed out than the Dragon Ages, where DA2 got the closest. 

[YoThatLimp]

Nobody picked Tali in 2 and 3? Nobody else at all?

 

I did, because if you had to pick why not pick the craziest looking alien to romance?

[richardco]

1) On my Male Shepard...I honestly don't remember.  I just did it for the achievement.  No one on my Female Shepard.

2) Tail for my manshep, Garrus for my ladyshep.

3) Tali for manshep, only played it once.

[Badfinger]

I invited Kelly up to my Chambers.   

 

 

I think I was attempting to romance Miranda, but then sided with Jack on one of the missions and lost enough Romance Juice that I think Jack was my only option between them. I may actually have ended up with Tali? ME2 was the only game I played through in its entirety.

 

I played every origin story in Dragon Age, and so I think my main play through was as a lady but I'm not entirely sure. The DA database was not helpful; I probably lost the final save file to a corrupted hard drive or screw up somewhere. I'm pretty sure I ruined Alistair through decisions made, poor kid.

[Dewar]

I was seriously bummed with Alistair left to become a drunkard when I brought in Loghain. I stand by my decision, I didn't want to die, and I certainly wasn't going to sacrifice Mr. Ungrateful. 

[I_smell]

I just tried to pin down as many lesbian relationships as I could, because that is an exciting Commander Shepard to me.

 

Yeah in Mass Effect I role-play as a giant slut, in the privacy of my own home I'm allowed to do whatever I want!

 

 

 

If it makes you feel any better, I did only realize I'd fallen in love with Yeoman Kelly Chambers when I found out she'd died on the Reaper ship, so that taught me a lesson.