The Best Companion in: Mass Effect

 Where the trees have leaves of prisms

In the age of ancients the western RPG genre was unformed. T'was an industry full of clichés, usually weak combat and rampant misunderstanding of what exactly constitutes an 'RPG'. (No, just having a lifeless automatic 'level-up' mechanic, doesn't count.) But then there was Bioware, and with Bioware came disparity. (As well as Bethesda and at least one other RPG pioneer I'm forgetting right now.) Good games and bad games, B tier and A tier, and of course, actual rudimentary RPG mechanics and just having an number next to your healthbar.  Then, from Bioware's creative minds, they came and founded possibly the first high quality Sci-fi-fantasy hybrid game; Mass Effect. And I can't keep up this Dark Souls intro anymore, it doesn't even make any sense, this blog is about Mass Effect... and I'm sure you can figure out the rest of the premise from the title alone, but I physically cannot function without a proper introduction so I beg your forgiveness...

Following the recent trend of weaponised nostalgia in... well not just the gaming industry, every industry when I think about it, but especially those who sign off on all these remakes; it was recently confirmed that a remaster of the good Mass Effect games is incoming. (Sorry, Andromeda; you trash) And even I have to admit that although I was fully aware of what they were doing with that teaser and how literally just teasing Character models is practically the height of laziness, I still feel for the hype a little bit. What can I say, Mass Effect means a lot to me and in fact I was one of those people who actually started with the original so seeing those particular models recreated was very special to me. Even more so because these were the companions that I spent so much time with and grew to love through merit of being stuck on a space adventure with them. Of course, some I loved more than others and now... uh oh..

So that's how I felt the need to revive this old Blog series of mine for at least a single entry more in order to talk about a game I really do know well enough to assess, as opposed to the game which I was going to cover last on this series which had since released a DLC and threw my understanding into turmoil. (One day I'll get back to it, I guess. Maybe.) But I suppose it would behove me to touch on exactly what it is that we're talking about here. I mean, what exactly constitutes the 'best' when talking about characters in a video game? Well, quite simply, personal opinion. Yep, this is gonna be a subjective as heck blog wherein I split hairs, over analyse and prove to be wholly unfair for my own sick amusement. Maybe I'll touch upon the actual 'usefulness' of each character in combat, but quite honestly this is Mass Effect 1 we're talking about, most companions are literally only good to be bullet shields whilst you do all the work. (If you've never played then trust me, they are that useless.) But with that out of the way, let me launch into my usual listing of worst to best.

Carth Onasi tops out list in the worst spot for pure merit of being such an insufferable arse to the protagonist for seemingly no good reason whatsoev- huh? What do mean that's the wrong game? Oh right, I'm supposed to be talking about Kaidan Alenko! (Wonder how I made that mix up...) Kaidan is... there. Quiet honestly the man is like background dressing in all manners, from his voice to his story to his character design. (There's a reason he didn't make the cut in the teaser trailer) I genuinely cannot even remember what his character's arc was meant to be throughout the first game. I'm looking it up and apparently there was some sort of influence subplot going on wherein the player could subtly make Kaidan more or less accepting of Alien races, but that doesn't sound right at all, he seemed pretty plain toast to me.

So Carth- sorry Kaidan, pretty much sums up like this; he is one of the human's that is capable of using the mystical space powers know as the for- I mean Biotics, due to his exposure to Element Zero at a young age. Unlike Shepard, who got very lucky, Kaidan was fitted with L2 implants in order to control his biotic abilities and reacted badly to them. Not 'reacted badly' as in he started shooting blood out of his ears, but that he's wracked with migraines fairly regularly; which is about the best that those folk can hope for. (Unless you're the protagonist, in which case you get off scot free) He's loyal to the crew, doesn't seem to get in the way too often, Kaidan is pretty the model solider in every single way and the kind of person you won't really think twice about sacrificing for the good of the mission should anything go awry. (Seriously, did this guy make it through anyone's playthrough?)

Next up is the man, the myth, the legend: Richard L Jenkins. (That's right, you thought I forgot about him didn't you? Shame on you heathens!) This big meaty hero of a man that is Jenkins is but a mere rookie when he gets picked up by the commander for a ground mission on Eden Prime at the literal beginning of the entire Mass Effect franchise. He is abuzz with excitement about his first ground-op, but the Commander is pretty stern about letting him know that this is a serious mission, and that there's no room for undue heroics. (A clear effort from Shepard to try and steal the spotlight from this absolute demon of a man who would easily overshadow the entire crew if allowed to run at even half his full power level.) And there, on his first touch down to Eden Prime, whilst exploring the recently silenced colony, Jenkins is unfairly ambushed and brutally cut down by the literal weakest enemies in the game so quickly that he must have purposefully turned off his own kinetic shields before the mission because that's just how hardcore he is, baby! 

So wait a minute, did I just rank Jenkins, the man who famously dies before the first fight in the game, as higher than Kaidan, a man with the potential to make it through the entire franchise? (But who never will because duh, it's Kaidan) You betcha, and it's likely because honestly I found Jenkins to be more memorable. I mean sure, he is pretty much the living embodiment of a red-shirt, but that sort of blatant foreshadowing just makes the man's untimely death all the more memorable, out of sheer ridiculousness. How did this man make it aboard the most advanced ship in the Earth fleet? Why does he hold his weapon sideways if he's given literally anything other than his starter rifle? How can he wear Krogan, Quarian and Turian Armor without it showing up at all? And most importantly, why didn't he have his darn shields on? All these questions swirl around this enigma of a man, and until we get the demanded Richard Jenkins prequel game, the world may never know....

Now we have Ashley Williams and I'm just realising that I grouped up all the humans at the bottom of the list... I'm not sure if that's a testament to how cool Mass Effect aliens are or a red flag about my own speciesism against the human race. (Probably both, to be honest) Ashley is pretty much the lady counterpart to Kaidan who takes up his roll depending on the gender of the protagonist, with the slight difference being that she actually has a personality. Ash hails from a line of military service members and thus has that no-nonsense over protectiveness which bleeds out from that sort of lifestyle. She also has a prevalent sense of family and deep loyalty to them which fuels her desire to protect them whatever the cost. Of course, that loyalty also fuels her worst character trait, which is why she appears so low on this list.

How to put this... Ashley is sort of a space racist. Not in a 'war crime committing' sort of way, but in a 'deep seeded distaste that has unknowingly seeded into her rational decision making' sort of way. And that alone makes it pretty hard to get along with her, or rather it would with weaker writing. I genuinely don't know how the team had the courage to pull it off, but they actually gave a decent reason for Ash's xenophobia and allowed the chance for her to be redeemed throughout the storyline, and that's quite something for any one character to go through. And it's not something melodramatic and hammy either, it's actually quite subtle and organic, and if Ash was just more interesting outside of her racism I might even consider this character journey as worthy of a higher mark. Unfortunately, her best moments are saved for later games so this is the best I can do right now.

Here comes a controversial placement and so let me precede it by saying; Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya marks the first in a list of three characters who are almost too close to call in how much I like them. She may be in the middle of the list, but that is no ragging on her as a character, the standard is just so high from this way forward. Tali is a Quarian and thus a member of the Migrant Fleet, an entire race of aliens who were kicked off of their home world and now must live their lives as space nomads forever inside of environment suits. It's an intriguing premise that make Tali a curious being right from the get go, and that's before you actually start learning about the woman herself.

Tali is on her 'pilgrimage', which means she must search the universe to learn something worth benefitting the lives of folk back on her ship, this alone makes her a great analogue for introducing some of the more technical aspects of the world as well as to be insight to her fascinating culture. Unfortunately, this pretty much amounts to all Tali is during the first game and she doesn't really get to become an interesting entity of herself until Mass Effect 2 wherein she has a simply great storyline. Tali gets this high billing just from being such a great concept, but her best moments are absolutely yet to come.

Which brings us to the stalwart tank of the group, Urdnot Wrex, a turtle with a shotgun and a heart of... well he does kill for money so I guess I can't say Gold... Pyrite? Everything about Wrex screams 'tough' and 'hardened', and this comes down to his writing, voice acting and spectacular character design. (Although to be honest; all Aliens in Mass Effects prior to Andromeda are brilliantly designed) The man is a Krogan, which means he hails from a race of war fish that were ascended to space-faring status too quickly, and thus became a literal galactic threat worthy of retaliation. (That's the kind of badasses we're talking about.) The Krogan of today are far and few between, having been crippled through a manufactured virus that acts as population control, and the whole thing is some of the most interesting back story I've ever heard for a single Alien race. And whatsmore, Wrex doesn't just act as a spout of exposition for all this, he is himself a product of it and his very way of living and mannerisms convey as much about this situaiton as words.

Wrex marks some of those Bioware characters that you just instantly build rapport with. Seriously, it's hard not to love this fish by the end of any playthrough. He's tough as nails but laid back about it and even manages to treat the player to a story or two about his mercenary days, and unlike with Canderous, these stories are actually interesting to listen to and don't make you want to sever and eat your own ears with chopsticks. Wrex's personal quest about getting his grandfathers armour is not too elucidating, (although it is played perfectly for his character) but the way in which he is tied into the main story is truly impactful and marks one of the best moments in the franchise. I won't get into it here given that the remasters are on the way, but I've never seen Bioware craft a character who so starkly opened up in one moment that completely recast who you thought them to be. Great stuff.

These next two were literally agonising to choose between, because you'd think a list about best companions in a Mass Effect game would only ever have one clear winner. However this is Mass Effect 1 we're talking about and situations are different, thus I have to award the runner up prize to Garrus Vakarian. (I know!) This guy is a Turian, a no-nonsense species who famously were the first aliens ever encountered by humans during an event that would come to be known as 'The First Contact war.' (No prizes for guessing how that meeting ended up.) Although Garrus isn't the kind of Alien who carries the weight of his species on his shoulders, this time the writers give him space to shine as his own character and really become memorable based on those merits.

Yet again this is a case of a character who's instantly likeable, it's just in the way that his personality is and the dialogue he has; there's this constant sense that you and him are always on the save wave length. His personal story is perhaps the most solid narrative in the game, tying into the stories that he tells you in a manner that feels natural yet still impactful once you pick up on it. And most importantly, in my weighing system, he does hold ties to the main story through a touched upon rivalry with the rogue Spectre Turian, Saren. Garrus takes him on as a disgrace to their race thus given him personal fuel for the journey to put him down, same as with the protagonist. Unfortunately he's just not quite at that level of instant life-long pals that he reaches by Mass Effect 2, but he's certainly on his way there.

Which leaves me crowning the other most iconic character from this series, Liara T'Soni, perhaps the only companion in the game who is actually worth a damn in battle. (Okay, Wrex can be good too depending on the situation, but Liara is a literal jack-of-all-trades) As an Asari, a race of all female, all blue, psychic ladies, it would have been easy for this character to slip into those Sci-fi tropes as the overly sexual cliché spout, (god knows this entire species' design leans dangerously close to that territory) but the actual Liara herself is tipped in perhaps the exact opposite direction as a naïve pseudo-teenager looking for her way in life. (I say 'Psuedo' because she's over a hundred)

Liara is actually an interesting case because her ties to the main narrative run deeper than any other companion. She's a target during the early investigation due to her mother being so close to Saren, but soon after she joins up with the hero and we get the ever interesting dynamic of pitting a child against their parent. I think what I love so much about her character is the way in which her Arc starts in Mass Effect and tangibly evolves throughout each game until the 3rd, without feeling ham-fisted or half hearted in any of the individual entries along the way; that's truly impressive character forming. Whatsmore, her arc's conclusion in Mass Effect 1 is actually one of her peak character moments in my opinion, which marks a rare case of ME 1 getting the best of the series. (That doesn't happen too often.)

So Liara is my top pick for Mass Effect 1, but one must bare in mind that (excluding Andromeda) it is arguably the weakest game in the franchise, so perhaps a follow up is in order. Still, even with it's faults Mass Effect is a great game that seems to pay homage to so many Sci-fi series out there whilst still managing to wind into something unique along the way, and that's worth applauding all on it's own. And no matter how much I pick holes in them or rib at them, the ME cast remain one the most memorable casts that the company has ever assembled and I can't wait to see their glow up next year in  the remaster which better be at least half as good as the Demon Souls remaster. (I'll settle for nothing less...)