#i mean i drew it traditionally but it was coloured and stuff digitally

[humblefryingpan]

Presenting Makotowing! (naegwing?)

I finally drew something for my DC/Danganronpa crossover lol

If this is the first part of it you've seen then here is the masterlist of the posts I've made so far (assigning and explaining characters)

[sights-on-the-scifi]

What does MASS EFFECT mean to me?

Well first off, it is certainly not just the romances, the friendships, jokes, humour, combat or music on their own.

It is more so a complex web of fundamental, interconnected components that form a coherent whole.

If one of them fail the rest of the machine fails to me so to speak. The MASS EFFECT trilogy represents a very specific blend of old and new science fiction ideas/themes, aesthetic, tone, role playing systems, action, narrative and dialogue choices. Friendships and relationships are also a side of this overall design... But again if any one of these components fail the rest falls apart, this is important to keep in mind when it comes to understanding what this trilogy means to me personally.

ART DIRECTION AND SOUND DESIGN.

The style and presentation of the MASS EFFECT universe to me is very specific, but also very familiar because if you take the time to look into it. The designers drew heavy inspiration from a large pool of existing science fiction media both past and present to create it all.

Its not just self referential.

It is all reflected in the original trilogy’s conceptual art, environments, colour pallet, lighting and sound. The clever traditionally inspired ways the artists fool the eye into believing in the impossible landscapes or strange alien civilisations...

...Blade runner, Terminator, Star wars, Alien, Halo, Total Recall, Contact, ET, Close encounters, Outland, 2001 a space odyssey, Star Trek, you name it... This series has pulled something from all of this media be that directly or indirectly through pop cultural osmosis. This extends to the way they create their sound design and music, infact the team went as far to recreate the auditory creation methods Ben Burt employed in generating the sound FX for Star wars as an example.

Concept art that stands the test of time.

The conceptual art for these original games is still fresh and novel, even today in a media landscape that is fast becoming increasingly homogenised. When I open up the art-books for MASS EFFECT 1-2-3 i’m still captivated by it all, because it evokes the best seen in the genre. This stuff was made during the start of digital art becoming the industry standard so the developers really tried to get the most out of the medium, even then they still created traditional artwork for the projects.

ROLE PLAYING, WRITING, DIALOGUE, SCIFI THEMES AND TONE.

The original MASS EFFECT trilogy dealt with hard and pop science fiction concepts, themes and ideas. It is both speculative and playful with the future of humanity in this galactic context, combining the absurd with the truly poetic and tangible. The perfect combination!

Questions relating to the nature of man’s place in the cosmos, alien species, genocide, artificial intelligence, synthetic vs organic perspectives, war, poverty, class, interspecies politics, art, culture, sex and more are raised. Things that are explored in memorable side content and the main narrative, or even through following the personal stories of a diverse cast of characters both human and alien with ties to the subject matter. Simply taking the time to listen to the codex and research the historical parallels this science fiction universe engages in reveals a complexity that is relatively unheard of today in the genre, where big budget spectacle and action has taken much of the spotlight.

Characters like Wrex and Mordin give you an insight into the complexities of the Genophage question, deep science fiction concepts inspired by real world human history like WW2. Hell simply taking the time to dismount from the Mako and look at the earth from the moon already says something about our place in this universe even if ME1′s fidelity to the real life vista is not as technologically impressive as it was back in 2007 now almost 11 years ago.

I can still feel those emotions though.

The dialogue wheel, choices, and paragon/renegade dynamic resulted in the original trilogy’s signature role playing elements which elevated the game above its simple driving and shooting mechanics. All the deep scifi questions or themes explored were engaged with via how you directed an established character in the universe (Commander Shepard). This was also the way you defined their personality and reaction to the personalities of others along that journey.

Even the most casual conversation with a crew member is exploring your Shepard’s personality, science fiction themes and more. All fully voiced with impressive lip syncing. Like in this memorable scene with Liara.

Thanks to the fact that this was a trilogy, dynamic story elements be that relating to choices, characters and more could be swapped in and out seamlessly based on how you chose to engage with the narrative as the Commander be that on paragon or renegade lines... Perhaps even both! Point here is that you really do feel the presence of this world and your own place in it, because it is so reactive. I love this, its not just passive media since you have to interact with it on multiple levels be that instinctively and intellectually. This was all intended from the start too.

Simply watch the behind the scenes material and hear it from the developers themselves. I have a huge respect for this original teams passion and focus.

So this is what MASS EFFECT is and means to me personally.