This post was inspired by two things I saw recently: The connection between these two items is not obvious, but it is interesting. The lemon problem WeFunder, for the uninitiated, is a crowdfunding platform for (primarily) technology companies. It allows community-oriented startups to sell a small % of ownership to their users and supporters.
And their writing has, very unfortunately, really fallen off. Just compare Saren as a villain to, say Corypheus, or whoever that completely forgettable dude was in Anthem. Even in Andromeda, all the characters felt kinda one-note or like ME characters with the serial numbers filled off.
Saren was such a fantastic villain. I originally played the Mass Effect games out of order, so I already knew what was supposed to happen with him when I played ME1, and yet I found myself trying to convince him to shake off the indoctrination anyway. It just felt so compelling to believe that he might be redeemable, or at least that I as Shepherd would want that for him. Sovereign and Harbinger were also fantastic villains in their own right.
And then the heroes, oh my god the heroes. It’s tragic that the BioWare that could write Liara, Wrex, Mordin, and Tali is dead.