5. Legion Oh god this is getting harder and harder. I'm going to start with the negatives: Legion is barely in either game. That is really the biggest thing. You get it super late in ME2 and if you want to see its awesome unique dialogue you have to wait to do most of the missions until after you get it, effectively sacrificing your crew, which I never do. Of course you can look up on the wiki/youtube its dialogue but it isn't the same. Then in Mass Effect 3 it is also only present for a short time.
Speaking of that dialogue.. it's incredible. In ME2 it is some of the funniest stuff in the game. Just a sampling: geth do not intentionally infiltrate. Metal detectors are inconvenient. That functionality is not to spec. Pretty much any of his stuff on Tali's loyalty mission, which by itself is almost worth killing the crew for. In ME3 it gets some seriously moving stuff. If you mess up the Tali/Legion situation in ME3 and side with Tali you get this scene which is difficult to watch, especially if you don't use the renegade interrupt.
He's actually kinda disappointing in combat, he is kind of a more sturdy Tali with a Sniper Rifle. All the same he's a fantastic character you never see coming, all of his arcs are engaging both story and combat wise, and you get to learn more about a race you really knew absolutely nothing about.
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! "better than ngamer"- nick
4. Liara T'soni Liara Liara LIara. She was my first romance character. Her interactions with other characters are also awesome. She's great in combat. Her romances are probably the most fleshed out in the whole series. I don't even really know what to say so this one will be short.
Liara in ME1 isn't that great. If there were more romance options I don't think it would have been so high, but I chose Liara because lolAshley and Liara was atleast somewhat interesting. At the beginning she is just a scientist who happens to know a lot about the protheans and her momma worked for the big bad. You learn a little more about her but she's basically a young naive scientist who is pretty cute (both physically and in how she acts).
In ME2 Liara isn't a squaddie and that sucks because story-wise, it is a great game to be a squad-mate. Most of the characters have two fairly in-depth quests dedicated entirely to them. All she does it get you to hack into some terminals and solve a simple logic puzzle. Sure she's kinda cooler now, channeling her mother, but that is it. Until LotSB, one of the best pieces of DLC in any game, period. It also does wonders for Liara's character, more so than almost any character. You all know what. The only real disappointing aspect is her romance is meh.
In ME3 she continues to be awesome and is available in the early game. Her romance is one of the few that is actually well developed in ME3. I just like how she grew and had actual development, which is uncommon in this game. For how well written the characters are they usually don't grow very much because they are well developed already.
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! "better than ngamer"- nick
From: LeonhartFour | #105 Lair of the Shadow Broker is more awesome if you cheat on Liara than if you stay faithful because of her snarky comments about your partner of choice.
But yeah, Liara is pretty great.
i forgot to mention them but they are pretty awesome
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! "better than ngamer"- nick
3. Mordin Solus I know you guys are super duper shocked about the top 2 but hold onto your hats let's talk about how ****ing awesome Mordin is. Unlike the other top four characters he is only playable in ME2, and only him and legion make my top 7 with that qualification. Mordin's recruitment mission is the first mission most people do upon attaining freedom. It's a fun mission with fun combat and the first meeting with Mordin is fantastic. If you take the Renegade interrupt you get him trying to slow down his talking which is hilarious.
Mordin's loyalty mission is alright, although Tuchanka was kinda getting old by that point. Still interesting though and tells you a lot about who Mordin is. And of course... Do I even have to mention... I suppose I should... The modern major-general bit was hilarious. Maybe the funniest moment in the game. I sat there with my mouth ajar as he cleared his throat at the end. I went and got my dad and made him watch Mordin do it again. Incredible. Maybe the only dialogue I have never skipped.
And then in Mass Effect 3 Mordin returns with a heart! All of a sudden he's trying to save every female Krogan and cure the genophage. And he has the most emotional moment in the game (that you can not avoid. Playing as a not stupid pure paragon I missed some of the ones that you can get if you suck or are renegade). Wrex and Eve naming a kid in his honor was a bit touching. I don't know. Mordin's just awesome.
Top 2 order pedictions gogogo
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! "better than ngamer"- nick
From: LeonhartFour | #111 what the heck am I reading
Mordin's Loyalty Mission is one of the three best in the game!
The backdrop of the mission is important to me and it is like the 4th tuchanka mission and its a dreary looking hospital. The combat and story are good, i just don't like the setting.
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! "better than ngamer"- nick
2. Garrus Vakarian I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Garrus. He is probably the most popular character in the series and one of the most popular characters in gaming, and for good reason. Garrus starts off as a simple c-sec officer but when he is ordered to investigate Saren he realizes he is guilty. He can’t prove it because its all classified so he says **** it and joins Shepard. I always thought it was interesting that Garrus was a Spectre candidate but his father wouldn’t give him more training to help him get picked. I actually didn’t do his personal mission in ME because I was dumb and thought I had more time but oh well.
ME2 is when Garrus really gets badass. He leads his own vigilante group, and after they are killed, he single-handily torments all three mercenary groups, which is pretty damn awesome. Recruiting him is one of the first missions I do, always. I remember being fairly surprised when I found out it was Garrus the first time even though it was pretty damn obvious in retrospect. Fun mission, and his loyalty mission is a nice mix of combat and conversation. It isn’t the best loyalty mission but it isn’t bad at all. He also has some of the best Shadow Broker logs, from the emotional conversation with his sister to his kill list which I like so much I’m going to copy and paste it at the end of this write-up.
In ME3 he continues to be badass, and now he has political connections too! Garrus continues to be awesome and have great squad banter like everyone else. My favorite mission with him is Sur’Kesh, he has so many awesome lines. “I could have sworn I heard it mutter T’soni” hahaha. Garrus is just awesome.
His romance is supposed to be very good but I must confess that I’ve never done it because I don’t play femshep. I did watch it on youtube but it isn’t really the same as playing it, it isn’t nearly as emotional, ya know?
What helps Garrus more than anything is that he is one of only 2 characters to be playable in all 3 games. This helps immensely as he gets the character development of 2 with the banter of one and three. It is no coincidence that number one on the list was the other character to be in all three games. Brandon Keener is also fantastic. All that said, Garrus is the badass renegade ex-cop that everyone loves who is also brilliant and hilarious. How can you not love him?
Noted Criminal Deaths on Omega Rhi'hesh Shurta (gang leader) -Headshot Selkeet Shirion (gang enforcer) -Headshot Kron Harga (slaver) -Gunshot wounds (all extremeties and primary organs) -Rifle butt fracture to face -Third-degree burns to most of body (explosive crate) Har Urek (saboteur) -Suffocation (enviromental suit malfunction) Gus Williams (weapons smuggler) -Headshot (smuggled weapon) Thralog Mirki'it (red sand dealer) -Chemical overdose (red sand, direct contact with all four eyes) Zel'Aenik nar Helash (viral specialist, serial killer) -Cough
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! "better than ngamer"- nick
1. Tali’Zorah vas Normandy Anyone who knows me isn’t gonna be shocked by this one, Tal is probably my favorite character in all of gaming. I love Tali so much that I dumped Liara for her and I ranked her over Garrus, which says quite a bit… Hell, even Joker likes her. He has snotty things to say about everyone but her. I want desperately to do this write-up justice but I fear that it will be inadequate. Plowing ahead anyways. People like to talk about how she isn’t in the same class as other squad members in ME1 skill-wise, but think about how you meet her. She goes onto an uncharted planet that is Geth controlled, deactivates a geth and manages to get data off its memory core before it deletes itself. Incredibly impressive for someone who is just leaving the Flotilla for the first time. She tries to meet with the Shadow Broker but Shepard stops an ambush from killing her. Tali is fun in Mass Effect 1, but she was probably only tied with Liara in 3rd (behind Wrex and Garrus) because she wasn’t that great in ME1.
Mass Effect 2 is when Tali starts to really come into her own. She’s much more confident and she just gets way better characterization. I wish she was recruitable a little bit earlier (and signs are that it was designed to be earlier) but her recruitment mission is fun and you meet an awesome character in it. Than you get to her loyalty mission and woah. That mission is awesome story and combat wise, and if you bring Legion it is arguably the best mission in the game. Her interactions with Legion throughout the game are fantastic.
In Mass Effect 3 Tali has fully grown into quite the little badass of her own, she’s now an admiral. She’s grown fully from a bold teenager (not actually but you know) into this badass Admiral who is the representative of her species. I love Tali in ME3, her evolution on view of the geth mirrored mine almost exactly. If you choose the geth over the quarians and you didn’t make the right decisions prior to that you get to see one of the most emotional scenes in gaming. It is probably the only scene that I didn’t actually get in my playthrough that made me emotional. Although even the “good” ending to that situation is pretty sad. “Yes”. Great stuff.
Tali’s romance is incredible and it brings up some great stuff in ME3. Liara’s might have a little more to it but Tali’s is just a big better. She’s adorable and its fun to watch her grow from a girl to a woman as you date her. Plus her and Shepard flirting and EDI being awkward is fantastic.
Tali gets all 3 games to grow and she takes full advantage, having more character growth than anyone. Her voice actress is incredible, and I really hope to see Ash Sroka in something else because she gives so much to the character. She’s adorable yet strong and credit has to go to the writing staff and Sroka for that. Her romance is great, she has fun missions, she’s my favorite character in gaming.
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! "better than ngamer"- nick
I have never romanced anyone but her. I don't like Liara enough to try, and of course I hate Ashley and Miranda.
Also Thane is not useless in combat. On my first Insanity playthrough he stayed alive more often than any other squadmate. Me and him kicked a bunch of ass, it was awesome.
From: Jeff Zero | #130 Top three are most certainly correct. Order's a bit messed up though. But very good.
If there's anything I'm certain of when it comes to Mass Effect squadmates, it's that number 1 is Tali and the very extremely close number 2 is Garrus. In fact I'd say it's more like 1a and 1b.
And then Miranda would be dead last, with Ashley, Jacob, and Kaidan right behind her. The rest range from likable to totally awesome. It's difficult for me to rank them.
From: GaryOak151 | #132 deciding between tali and garrus is like deciding between a serious girlfriend who you are gonna propose to and your best friend for life