Mass Effect Andromeda's poor handling of LGBT - NeoGAFWith all the other downgrades compared to past games, it's not suprising they dropped the ball there too.
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: 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: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
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