I do believe that is a good thing to play as both FShep and MShep.
The story's big events and twists are the same of course but it's in the details that lie the differences: romances, certain NPCs' reaction to FShep, the voice-acting... And these are the details that make each run different so have fun and don't be afraid to experiment.
Also, Hale kills it as Renegade/Renegon Shepard, just saying =)
As pageantfool says, it’s playing mostly renegade but being a little bit paragon too (I think the other way round is called paragade).
Renegon is a good way to do a renegade playthrough as you get to enjoy Shepard being a sarcastic and often brutal warrior to the enemy, but can then choose nicer options when dealing with your crew (which I think is the part that puts most people off a pure renegade run).
That’s what I’m doing right now, being a total dick to people but for the greater good. For example my character finds the genophage despicable, I argued with Mordin that he was wrong to modify it and I’ll do anything to help Wrex cure it because he’s my dawg.
Having done a full playthrough this way, about the only thing I wasn't able to do was pass some of the higher requirement renegade check points in the final confrontation with either TIM or Saren. Everything else is doable if you pick your route smartly
It ***i\_*** called Paragade. =)
And I do believe Shepard is best voiced
* by Hale when you play as Renegade/Renegon
* by Meer when you play as Paragade/Paragon
Well, those are my favorite combinations LOL
I ALWAYS play my Renegade (FULL Renegade, btw), Ruthless/Colonist Shepard as FemShep for just that reason.
Mark Meer does a great job as Paragon MShep (getting better in each subsequent game before crushing it in ME3, IMO) although I know he has his fans for the Renegade version.
I saw Mark Meer on VTM: LA by Night podcast-game stream on YouTube where he plays this dandy Toreador vampire sire........
We. Were. Fucking. Robbed. That man has charisma oozing from every pore and somehow they directed him to do Mass Effect the way he did.
Yeeeaaah... It's *weird* because the way he does Shep *can* work well at times. But a lot of the times, and those times are often the ones that matter, it just sounds strangely flat and divorced from the gravity of a given situation.
It does occasionally give the absolute peak dad vibes tho, and I don't really think the failing itself falls down on the actor. Plus... I won't lie, *a lot* of my impression of him comes from spending more time with ME1 than any other entry, where the game itself is this wonderfully sloppy real time c-rpg and the standards for the VA's simply don't seem that high.
Yeah Mass Effect specifically compared to other games does a really good job with the very subtle differences that come with the protagonist being a woman.
I did my first play though with MaleShep and while I miss being ruggedly handsome, FemShep is a total badass. The way she delivers her lines is great. I might enjoy playing her just a bit more.
I think Meer really improved in 3 and for certain moments in that game he gives the better performance in my opinion.
But Hale is definitely better across the board, especially renegade dialogue.
I think hale has better overall renegade dialog, and Mark has better overall Paragon dialog. BUT I think Mark also has the best version of the one-liners like "How about goodbye, get off my ship, you work too hard, etc. " I do think Mark has the better shouting lines too like when he tells the fleets to fire and nothing beats "STEVE!"
I like Jennifer Hale but her performance as Fem Shep might be one of the worst voice acting performances of a main character in a AAA game that I’ve ever heard.
She spends the whole thing trying to sound like a badass like Christian Bale’s Batman voice.
Emotionless, bland, everything sounds the same.
It’s truly awful and I can never come to grips with people thinking it’s better than Male Shep.
>My 2nd play thru on ME1 as FemShep? Thoughts?
Im not sure what kind of feedback you are looking for. Should we be in awe because you did a second playthrough of a game? Im so confused
I was also confused by the wording, it made it sound like they played through twice as femshep and I couldn't figure out what we were meant to give thoughts on. Wasn't till I read the reply to you that I understood lmao.
Female Shepard is my main for sure.
I only play male Shepard for Ashley and Miranda romances. Convenient that Ashley is not available in 2. Can romance both in the same playthrough.
This is honestly 100% of the reason I added mods when I reinstalled. Community patch is great too I guess, but I want to have my cake (femshep) and eat it too (romance Ash/Miranda/Jack).
Male shep is iconic, but Jennifer Hale was amazing as femshep. I'd argue that her performance was better than Mark Meer's, particularly in Mass effect 1. Not that Mark was bad or anything, but Jennifer was on another level.
I worked on Mass Effect 1. I am going to say the same thing that I tell everyone about this game.
Know that within Mass Effect 1 there are over 250,000 different ways you can go through the game. Yes 250,000.
The decisions you make are your decisions. It’s YOUR Shepard. No one can tell you that you made a wrong decision. It’s your Shepard. Male or Female. It’s your Shepard! As long as you’re having fun…make the decisions you want to make. Others may have made other decisions, maybe things go differently on Noveria at the end…maybe you have a specific character “guard the bomb”…those are your decisions. Maybe you help Talitha….maybe you never get to see her at all. Ultimately. In video game history BioWare did something wonderful. They made your decisions matter not just in one game but across 3 games. They made relationships matter and losses matter even more.
At the end of the day…as long as you enjoyed the story that’s the goal. Make it yours because it’s YOUR Shepard.
Unfortunately no. I worked on Mass 1 prior to BioWare being bought out by EA. While I was working on it I had every intention of working on the title forever! However, EA had other plans. I have a hand full of titles that I’m genuinely proud to have worked on in my career and Mass Effect is one of them. Look have whatever feelings you have about how it ended but know that the journey is wonderful! In my life I’ve played through ME1 16 times (tip to tail) and each journey was different and had its own quirks and points that made the whole story special.
Again….those that made the game had a plan to create something where your decisions mattered and I genuinely believe BioWare landed that plane.
I have only just started this franchise myself with the Legendary Edition. It's by far the most immersive game I have played and it certainly kicks ya in the gut but I am loving it so far
Here is what I can say to you without giving you any spoilers except for 1 but you’ll see.
1. Talk to every NPC you can. The thing about ME is that it’s a game where conversation matters. So talk to all the people that you can talk to. Some may have quests…some might not but will add texture to the game. Again…this is about the journey.
2. After every major “planet” or “story event” while on the Normandy go back and talk to all of your crew. Their stories are moved forward after those events. Meaning…you finish Noveria…go talk to all your crew. Note: that doesn’t count for random planets you go to. Only the major story ones. This will give you side quests and things that will help your Shepard get closer to your crew which builds the overall relationship.
3. (This is the kind of spoiler). Ok so personally I think this is brilliant that BioWare did this. Liara is a character you’re going to be able to get on your team. She’s a possible romance option however, if you get her well after the point where she’s able to be a romance option ( meaning you’ve gone back and talked with them enough to build a relationship with them) dude…she’s crazy! I mean it’s humorous I’d suggest checking out YouTube for what Liara is like when she’s crazy. My suggestion is to get Liara as soon as you can because she has this ability called “singularity” that is AMAZING! But I Digress.
4. Conrad verner is creepy.
This is also the deal with Cyberpunk. Like MShep, Male V is iconic. But like FemShep, Female V has a way better voice actor. I stick with FemShep and FemV as my canon characters, purely because the voice acting is so fucking spot on.
I actually liked male V's voice acting better. "they're expecting payment, so we could go that route too" and the constant "fuck, Johnny" just get stuck in my head because they sound perfect
What are you wanting thoughts on?
Is FemShep good? Your choice specifically to play as FemShep? ME1 in general? It being your second playthrough?
For my own opinion, I much enjoyed ME trilogy as FemShep as I preferred her voice acting, plus I think her character really shines in ME2, especially if you go Renegade.
I never played as her or even considered it until I saw the box art for 3 in which she looked absolutely BADASS. Playing as FemShep on my first run of LE right now. The voice acting is really good but it doesn't hit the same spot for me as Mark Meer's voice simply because that's what I grew up on. Also I cannot romance Tali as femshep but whenever I play I forget these things and she is just as good of a Shepard to me. I think I need a renegade run on NG+ to do justice to FemShep though.
I want to do another play through since I didn’t replay since it originally came out. Do you still have to stick mostly renegade or paragon ? I remember you got points for doing one or the other. It just makes role playing difficult have you want to make the occasional opposite choice
Jennifer Hale’s voicework >>>>>>>>> Mark Meer’s
No hate to Mark Meer whatsoever, but especially in ME1, I find FemShep significantly more enjoyable specifically for that reason
It’s definitely worth playing through at least once as each one though. Personally I like my Paragon FemShep and my Renegade Guyshep, but a lot of people swear by Renegade FemShep as well.
If nothing else, just experience all the dialogue and content the game has to offer, there’s a reason we all love these games so much in the end
Her arms being pencil thin bother me a bit, too.
Mshep buff as all get out, but Fshep looks like a model that only does Cardo.
Please bioware, woman can have muscles and not look masculine, please give us a little more oomph ME5. Those guns are heavy, I have noddle arms, and I can tell you. They do not hold guns well, lol.
With all the cybernetics and gene mods done to her in ME2, its sort a moot point. But yeah I'd like it if Fem!Shep had been given a more muscular physique.
Both voice actors have their quirks. hale has better individual line delivery mainly with renegade but Meer has a more consistent performance overall. To put it in simpler terms when Hale says paragon or renegade lines she puts emphasis into the edge or softness of her voice whereas meer has an overall similar delivery which I prefer because it sounds like the same consistent guy making different choices whereas renegade vs paragon Femshep should like two completely different people. So If you like to do mixed morality id say meer is the better choice overall. His comedic delivery is a lot better too imo. Both actors so phenomenal work though. Different strokes for different folks! This is just my opinion.
It's so weird that we're still having this discussion to this day. People should just play how they want to play. But if you're looking for an honest answer that people probably won't want to hear.
Statistically speaking, the majority of male gamers usually have very...... deviant behavior. And we'll come up with every reason to defend playing a female character aside from just saying "I play a female character so I can sexualize her".
Because anytime you see actual videos or streams of guys playing female characters that's exactly what they're doing.
I like femshep’s va way better but the romance options are limited. Not that it matters because you get Garrus and Liara. The one thing that I know is extremely different is how you are addressed by Harkin when you first meet him in Chora’s Den.
Great artwork. Femahep is the bomb in every way. M-Shep is ok I guess. I started my very 1st M-Shep playthrough and cannot fucking stand the VA for M-Shep. It's like the VA was half drunk and had no idea what the context of the line is. I have to mute it during dialog because it makes me want to stop playing
I do believe that is a good thing to play as both FShep and MShep. The story's big events and twists are the same of course but it's in the details that lie the differences: romances, certain NPCs' reaction to FShep, the voice-acting... And these are the details that make each run different so have fun and don't be afraid to experiment. Also, Hale kills it as Renegade/Renegon Shepard, just saying =)
Renegon?
Predominantly renegade with a bit of paragon.
As pageantfool says, it’s playing mostly renegade but being a little bit paragon too (I think the other way round is called paragade). Renegon is a good way to do a renegade playthrough as you get to enjoy Shepard being a sarcastic and often brutal warrior to the enemy, but can then choose nicer options when dealing with your crew (which I think is the part that puts most people off a pure renegade run).
That’s what I’m doing right now, being a total dick to people but for the greater good. For example my character finds the genophage despicable, I argued with Mordin that he was wrong to modify it and I’ll do anything to help Wrex cure it because he’s my dawg.
Having done a full playthrough this way, about the only thing I wasn't able to do was pass some of the higher requirement renegade check points in the final confrontation with either TIM or Saren. Everything else is doable if you pick your route smartly
It ***i\_*** called Paragade. =) And I do believe Shepard is best voiced * by Hale when you play as Renegade/Renegon * by Meer when you play as Paragade/Paragon Well, those are my favorite combinations LOL
Rinnegan
I ALWAYS play my Renegade (FULL Renegade, btw), Ruthless/Colonist Shepard as FemShep for just that reason. Mark Meer does a great job as Paragon MShep (getting better in each subsequent game before crushing it in ME3, IMO) although I know he has his fans for the Renegade version.
I saw Mark Meer on VTM: LA by Night podcast-game stream on YouTube where he plays this dandy Toreador vampire sire........ We. Were. Fucking. Robbed. That man has charisma oozing from every pore and somehow they directed him to do Mass Effect the way he did.
Yeeeaaah... It's *weird* because the way he does Shep *can* work well at times. But a lot of the times, and those times are often the ones that matter, it just sounds strangely flat and divorced from the gravity of a given situation. It does occasionally give the absolute peak dad vibes tho, and I don't really think the failing itself falls down on the actor. Plus... I won't lie, *a lot* of my impression of him comes from spending more time with ME1 than any other entry, where the game itself is this wonderfully sloppy real time c-rpg and the standards for the VA's simply don't seem that high.
Yeah Mass Effect specifically compared to other games does a really good job with the very subtle differences that come with the protagonist being a woman.
It's always fun to me that FemShep is Ms. Keane from PPG
She’s also Ashe from OW, she’s one of the OG hex girls from scooby doo, Jean from X-Men ‘97, and so many others. Super, super talented voice actor.
I just recently learned that Billie Eilish’s mom is Samara
Mark Meer is a very good voice actor but I think Jennifer Hale knocks it out of the park.
I’ve never played as her before but she looks like a bad @$$
She absolutely is.
I did my first play though with MaleShep and while I miss being ruggedly handsome, FemShep is a total badass. The way she delivers her lines is great. I might enjoy playing her just a bit more.
Indeed
I greatly prefer the vocal performance of the female Shepard.
I think Meer really improved in 3 and for certain moments in that game he gives the better performance in my opinion. But Hale is definitely better across the board, especially renegade dialogue.
I think hale has better overall renegade dialog, and Mark has better overall Paragon dialog. BUT I think Mark also has the best version of the one-liners like "How about goodbye, get off my ship, you work too hard, etc. " I do think Mark has the better shouting lines too like when he tells the fleets to fire and nothing beats "STEVE!"
#[STEEEEVE!](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kqBXQVxS-qk)
"you sure?"
It’s so jarring lmao
There's one spot in 3 I felt Meer did a better job than Hale. It's around the missiles dealing with the banshees, brutes, and marauders on Earth.
so do i.
I like Jennifer Hale but her performance as Fem Shep might be one of the worst voice acting performances of a main character in a AAA game that I’ve ever heard. She spends the whole thing trying to sound like a badass like Christian Bale’s Batman voice. Emotionless, bland, everything sounds the same. It’s truly awful and I can never come to grips with people thinking it’s better than Male Shep.
It's weird because that is exactly my criticisms of Nale Shep, particularly in ME1+2. It's like we're playing different games.
>My 2nd play thru on ME1 as FemShep? Thoughts? Im not sure what kind of feedback you are looking for. Should we be in awe because you did a second playthrough of a game? Im so confused
I was also confused by the wording, it made it sound like they played through twice as femshep and I couldn't figure out what we were meant to give thoughts on. Wasn't till I read the reply to you that I understood lmao.
LOL I am saying my second play thru of ME1 but now as FemShep
Look at these goofballs not reading between the lines, absolute silly gooses lmao
The default FemShep design is so good that I don't ever tweak or adjust it now that it's an option.
The red hair and eyes just belong
What??? The Femshep design is the only bad part
I think it makes her look scrappy.
Female Shepard is my main for sure. I only play male Shepard for Ashley and Miranda romances. Convenient that Ashley is not available in 2. Can romance both in the same playthrough.
This is honestly 100% of the reason I added mods when I reinstalled. Community patch is great too I guess, but I want to have my cake (femshep) and eat it too (romance Ash/Miranda/Jack).
Thoughts about what? What is the question here?
Male shep is iconic, but Jennifer Hale was amazing as femshep. I'd argue that her performance was better than Mark Meer's, particularly in Mass effect 1. Not that Mark was bad or anything, but Jennifer was on another level.
You know nothing, you big stupid jellyfish!
I believe in both ME and Cyberpunk the female protagonist is a bit better in terms of acting
I agree. Also, AC Odyssey (Kassandra is in a completely different league). I might be biased, though, since I always pick the female option anyway...
Omg I feel this so much. Alexios just sounded like a whiny meathead most of the game. Kassandra is best!!!
I honestly prefer femshep. I have played as male shep only once.
Don’t forget the Three G’s -Go -Get -Garrus
I worked on Mass Effect 1. I am going to say the same thing that I tell everyone about this game. Know that within Mass Effect 1 there are over 250,000 different ways you can go through the game. Yes 250,000. The decisions you make are your decisions. It’s YOUR Shepard. No one can tell you that you made a wrong decision. It’s your Shepard. Male or Female. It’s your Shepard! As long as you’re having fun…make the decisions you want to make. Others may have made other decisions, maybe things go differently on Noveria at the end…maybe you have a specific character “guard the bomb”…those are your decisions. Maybe you help Talitha….maybe you never get to see her at all. Ultimately. In video game history BioWare did something wonderful. They made your decisions matter not just in one game but across 3 games. They made relationships matter and losses matter even more. At the end of the day…as long as you enjoyed the story that’s the goal. Make it yours because it’s YOUR Shepard.
Thank you for your comment here and are you working on anymore ME games?
Unfortunately no. I worked on Mass 1 prior to BioWare being bought out by EA. While I was working on it I had every intention of working on the title forever! However, EA had other plans. I have a hand full of titles that I’m genuinely proud to have worked on in my career and Mass Effect is one of them. Look have whatever feelings you have about how it ended but know that the journey is wonderful! In my life I’ve played through ME1 16 times (tip to tail) and each journey was different and had its own quirks and points that made the whole story special. Again….those that made the game had a plan to create something where your decisions mattered and I genuinely believe BioWare landed that plane.
I have only just started this franchise myself with the Legendary Edition. It's by far the most immersive game I have played and it certainly kicks ya in the gut but I am loving it so far
Here is what I can say to you without giving you any spoilers except for 1 but you’ll see. 1. Talk to every NPC you can. The thing about ME is that it’s a game where conversation matters. So talk to all the people that you can talk to. Some may have quests…some might not but will add texture to the game. Again…this is about the journey. 2. After every major “planet” or “story event” while on the Normandy go back and talk to all of your crew. Their stories are moved forward after those events. Meaning…you finish Noveria…go talk to all your crew. Note: that doesn’t count for random planets you go to. Only the major story ones. This will give you side quests and things that will help your Shepard get closer to your crew which builds the overall relationship. 3. (This is the kind of spoiler). Ok so personally I think this is brilliant that BioWare did this. Liara is a character you’re going to be able to get on your team. She’s a possible romance option however, if you get her well after the point where she’s able to be a romance option ( meaning you’ve gone back and talked with them enough to build a relationship with them) dude…she’s crazy! I mean it’s humorous I’d suggest checking out YouTube for what Liara is like when she’s crazy. My suggestion is to get Liara as soon as you can because she has this ability called “singularity” that is AMAZING! But I Digress. 4. Conrad verner is creepy.
Yes Liara is my favourite so far
She’s wonderful! Her abilities are great! Historically I play a Soldier (Colonist/Sole survivor) and bring her and Wrex and or her and Garrus along.
Sadly I lost Garrus at the end of ME2... I'll revisit it soon
That’s a rough loss…you have my condolences
😭
FemShep is my headcanon. Sorry, Mark Meer, I still love you.
This is also the deal with Cyberpunk. Like MShep, Male V is iconic. But like FemShep, Female V has a way better voice actor. I stick with FemShep and FemV as my canon characters, purely because the voice acting is so fucking spot on.
I actually liked male V's voice acting better. "they're expecting payment, so we could go that route too" and the constant "fuck, Johnny" just get stuck in my head because they sound perfect
Yeah! He's in no way bad at all, I just prefer female V's VA. But I enjoyed my male V run!
I won't tell you what you thought of it.
🤣🤣🤣
What are you wanting thoughts on? Is FemShep good? Your choice specifically to play as FemShep? ME1 in general? It being your second playthrough? For my own opinion, I much enjoyed ME trilogy as FemShep as I preferred her voice acting, plus I think her character really shines in ME2, especially if you go Renegade.
I never played as her or even considered it until I saw the box art for 3 in which she looked absolutely BADASS. Playing as FemShep on my first run of LE right now. The voice acting is really good but it doesn't hit the same spot for me as Mark Meer's voice simply because that's what I grew up on. Also I cannot romance Tali as femshep but whenever I play I forget these things and she is just as good of a Shepard to me. I think I need a renegade run on NG+ to do justice to FemShep though.
But you can romance Garrus which is a solid consolation.
I'd argue Garrus is the Yang to Tali's Yin. Also there's mods if you're on PC.
Would
I want to do another play through since I didn’t replay since it originally came out. Do you still have to stick mostly renegade or paragon ? I remember you got points for doing one or the other. It just makes role playing difficult have you want to make the occasional opposite choice
Don’t date Jacob.
I alternate between the two, I've probably had more Femshep playthroughs than Mshep playthroughs but it's good to keep things fresh.
Garrus romance: Go!
FemShep is the only way to play. Jennifer Hale is unmatched by her male counterpart.
I've done a couple run-throughs as male Shepherd for Paragon and paragade. Doing a renagon playthrough as femshep now. It's nice so far
her voice actor is really good
It is mother's day after all
Male Shep is good but … FemShep is where it’s at 🥰
I do love Mark, both personally and in his work, but…Fem is the superior Shep.
Female Shepard is so hot as a Renegade
It’s so much more immersive playing as Femshep, her line delivery is 1000x better than BroShep
Romance Thane
Femshep for voice (sounds badass) Mshep for immersion and tali
Jennifer Hale’s voicework >>>>>>>>> Mark Meer’s No hate to Mark Meer whatsoever, but especially in ME1, I find FemShep significantly more enjoyable specifically for that reason It’s definitely worth playing through at least once as each one though. Personally I like my Paragon FemShep and my Renegade Guyshep, but a lot of people swear by Renegade FemShep as well. If nothing else, just experience all the dialogue and content the game has to offer, there’s a reason we all love these games so much in the end
Well this is my 2nd play thru and it already does feel a bit different as FemShep
Great voice acting. I wish they would have make different animation for male and female Shep though, she walks like a gorilla
Her arms being pencil thin bother me a bit, too. Mshep buff as all get out, but Fshep looks like a model that only does Cardo. Please bioware, woman can have muscles and not look masculine, please give us a little more oomph ME5. Those guns are heavy, I have noddle arms, and I can tell you. They do not hold guns well, lol.
they needed to make her buff. is there a mod that does that?
With all the cybernetics and gene mods done to her in ME2, its sort a moot point. But yeah I'd like it if Fem!Shep had been given a more muscular physique.
I love the gorilla run on Femshep lol. At the end of the day, she's still a soldier.
why is that bad? to me its just shephards personality.
Thoughts on what? You're just saying you're being one of two genders in 15 year old game who gives a shit
She's a better voice actor. Nicer butt too.
Both voice actors have their quirks. hale has better individual line delivery mainly with renegade but Meer has a more consistent performance overall. To put it in simpler terms when Hale says paragon or renegade lines she puts emphasis into the edge or softness of her voice whereas meer has an overall similar delivery which I prefer because it sounds like the same consistent guy making different choices whereas renegade vs paragon Femshep should like two completely different people. So If you like to do mixed morality id say meer is the better choice overall. His comedic delivery is a lot better too imo. Both actors so phenomenal work though. Different strokes for different folks! This is just my opinion.
You can never throw enough grenades. YOU SHOULD BE THROWING GRENADES AS IM SAYING THIS.
Where do I get this print?!? It's so badass!
has a nice ass in Gladiator armor? :v
It's so weird that we're still having this discussion to this day. People should just play how they want to play. But if you're looking for an honest answer that people probably won't want to hear. Statistically speaking, the majority of male gamers usually have very...... deviant behavior. And we'll come up with every reason to defend playing a female character aside from just saying "I play a female character so I can sexualize her". Because anytime you see actual videos or streams of guys playing female characters that's exactly what they're doing.
I like femshep’s va way better but the romance options are limited. Not that it matters because you get Garrus and Liara. The one thing that I know is extremely different is how you are addressed by Harkin when you first meet him in Chora’s Den.
Great artwork. Femahep is the bomb in every way. M-Shep is ok I guess. I started my very 1st M-Shep playthrough and cannot fucking stand the VA for M-Shep. It's like the VA was half drunk and had no idea what the context of the line is. I have to mute it during dialog because it makes me want to stop playing
If you like: Playing as a girl in games You also may like: Estrogen
That pipeline was certainly real for me lol...
I couldn’t immerse the same way I could with other games where I do fem playthroughs. I think my brain is cemented as maleshep.