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It’s the moment that many have been waiting for. A major grievance people have had with Mass Effect was the cutting out of queer romance options and dialogue. There have been several mods created to deal with this problem, and this particular mod will allow both Ashley and Kaiden to be romanced by both male and female Shepard by using unused dialogue in the game files.
The best part about this is since it’s taking advantage of the unused dialogue, all the scenes are properly voiced and animated. Additionally, the mod ensures that characters won’t refer to Shepard as the wrong gender and that Shepard will appear properly in the romance scene. One thing worth noting is that romances with Ashley and Kaiden will not start automatically. The player must choose to flirt with them in order for a romance to start.
You can download the mod and read a full list of changes on Nexus Mods, but the following are some examples of the notable changes that are included:
- The end of Kaidan's first post-mission conversation has been edited to allow MaleShep to flirt with Kaidan ("No, just you") and initiate the romance, while also allowing FemShep to avoid the romance by choosing not to flirt.
- Ashley and Kaidan's hostility towards Liara in the Therum and Feros debriefs now depends on an active romance, rather than Shepard's gender.
- Shepard now always has the option to turn down Liara by saying they're "only interested in men" if they're romancing only Kaidan.
- If Ashley, Kaidan, and Liara are all being romanced at the same time, then the confrontation will only occur after Virmire is completed.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition has reportedly outperformed EA’s expectations and has “reignited the passion of fans around the world.” It seems the remastered games were so successful because they were able to draw in both seasoned and new fans alike, so we aren’t terribly surprised to see the new Mass Effect games performing superbly.