Back in February, BioWare GM Aaryn Flynn made a flippant comment about Mass Effect Andromeda being “softcore space porn.” It was in response to people questioning the ESRB rating, which included nudity. It’s not partial nudity, as it has been in the past. Some people took Flynn’s comment as a joke and others quite seriously. Flynn had to backpedal a little bit as a result.
Sorry, I gave the wrong impression. We have strong characters, great gameplay, romances, and more, all dealing with mature themes. https://t.co/GAy6ZIzIPC
— Aaryn Flynn (@AarynFlynn) February 27, 2017
Considering Mass Effect and Dragon Age have always had mature themes, especially when it comes to romances, I expected that perhaps they were pushing the envelope a little further. Instead of silhouettes and assumptions, perhaps see a bit more of the scene unfold. I wish they had pushed that envelope with Garrus, but what’s done is done.
When I reviewed the game, I did not have time to pursue any relationships. My character flirted with everyone possible, just to see how far it could do with casual conversations, but she didn’t complete a single allies/relationships quest. There simply was no time in the window I had. Last night, I completed a romance, and I get the softcore porn comment now. Boy, do I ever.
Actually not the romance scene.
It’s not porn, really, but it’s definitely stuff you would see late at night on HBO or Cinemax. I was not expecting that at all. You have no idea how glad I was to be playing alone in my office, with no one watching. My romance was with Jaal, and it did not include seeing his full frontal. You don’t even see Ryder’s full frontal, just lots of boob. But as it continued for far longer than any other BioWare romance scene, my eyes widened with how far it went. I ended up texting a friend about it, and we compared romance stories. He romanced Cora, and he said it was more intense than he expected. I shared about Jaal, we snickered, told obscene jokes, and went on our merry way.
I’m not saying this is bad at all, so put down your torches and pitchforks. I’m mostly saying this as a warning, that maybe don’t play the romance parts with kids in the room. If you have a non-gamer spouse or roommate, you might want to warn them.
I am so unbelievably happy I did not play this scene during Extra Life with Chris and Blake. Chris didn’t even watch me play any part of Dragon Age: Origins until we happened to have a naked scene. Immediately he pounced on it like an older brother, yelling what I was watching, and teasing me to the point I know my whole face turned red. I can’t imagine how he would have reacted watching this Jaal romance.
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