Mass Effect Andromeda Review Thread 73 OC (113 reviews), 70 MC (54 reviews)

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Started by the-pi-guy, Mar 20, 2017, 02:24 PM

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Xevross

Mass Effect Andromeda's poor handling of LGBT - NeoGAF

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Yes, another Andromeda thread, but I feel it's about issues worth discussing, since BioWare usually tries to tackle LGBT issues to some degree in their games. However, there might possibly be multiple problematic showings about how the LGBT are handled in their newest Mass Effect game. Obviously the game is releasing only just now, so all of the information in the OP might be different in the actual proper game, although this seems unlikely. Note: Very Light Andromeda spoilers (one achievement with no story spoilers) will follow. --- So, Mass Effect Andromeda has a trophy/achievement called "The Matchmaker - Complete Romances with three different characters across all playthroughs". If you don't do these trophy/achievement, you basically won't be able to 100% of the game. The crux of the problem with this achievement is that it seems the game has a very varied number of romance options for characters with different orientations. Gaffer Harlequin notes on the issue:
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Originally Posted by Harlequin
 
 

 
 So according to the official guide and reviewers, some of the datamining was incorrect. Gay Scott only gets two romance options as opposed to straight Scott's five, gay Sara's four and straight Sara's three, neither of which are squadmates and neither of which have unique faces (just character creator ones). This also means that people playing as gay Scott won't be able to get the romance trophy/achievement without turning him bi. Good job, BW, good job.../

 
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Originally Posted by Harlequin
 
 

 
 The problem isn't just the achievement, it's the picture you get when you put all of those things together. I mean, of course, straight guys will get more options, I was never expecting them not to, but there are so many things that just scream half-arsed afterthought and "gays  are second-class citizens" here. We've got less than half the number of options that straight guys have, we don't have any squadmate option (who get significantly more exposition, dialogue, etc. than non-suadmates), we don't have any option with a unique face, all of the gay male naughtiness scenes are apparently fade-to-black whereas quite a few of the others are fully animated and include nudity and they put an achievement in the game that everyone but gay males can get without switching to a different gender or orientation (which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem but the fact that only gay men are forced to do it makes it one).

 
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Originally Posted by Harlequin
 
 

 
 I've already explained that it's not about the achievement specifically, it's about a bunch of little things which wouldn't be much of a problem on their own but paint the picture of all the gay male content being a half-arsed afterthought when put together.

 
This information has not been verified, so I'm not treating it as an absolute fact. I haven't played Andromeda myself, either. But if it is true, this is quite a weird oversight from BioWare's part, because it basically means that if a player wants to roleplay exclusively gay male protagonist (or is a gay male themselves, and wants their character to reflect that), it will be impossible to 100% the game without also romancing a female character at some point, turning their character to bi in the process. Noting that due to the nature of the Asari in this game, this could be potentially circled around by romancing an Asari. It's also worrisome that the romance options for the Gay Male Ryder are not even squadmates, and more minor characters instead.  The problem isn't solely about the Achievement either, it's that the gay representation in general seems to be quite problematic (fade-to-black naughtiness scenes, etc.)So why is it problematic? Well, imagine it the other way around. The players who would want to play as solely straight male Ryder wouldn't be able to Platinum Andromeda without a play-through where they have to romance another man. There would most likely be lot of outrage about forcing players to choose a gay male option if they want to platinum the game. It makes gay male Ryder players feel like second-class citizens, if this information is true. And it's such a weird oversight from BioWare's part. --- Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the only problem the game has with LGBT representation.  The game has a transgender character introduced, but is then handled rather poorly:
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The character, when asked why they went to Andromeda, quickly seems to deadname themselves. Deadnaming in general is usually seen as a form of transphobia:
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The Character can be seen in the Giant Bomb Quick Look, for instance. ---  The game is only releasing right now, so we don't know for sure what extenct BioWare has went for LGBT representation. But the signs seen so far seem to be rather worrysome, especially after Dragon Age games and even Mass Effect 3, that had a gay squadmate option. //Edit: Added more post quotes from Harlequin for context.
 
Okay, what the fudge? Bioware has gone from being amazing leaders in LGBT representation to seemingly only shoving it in the game because fans expect it now. This is really upsetting.

EA is never getting my money for this game. I dodged a bullet