This comes from former Mass Effect Lead Writer Drew Karpyshyn, who in a Reddit AMA revealed that the team at BioWare was “blindsided” by the love fans had for certain characters. Particularly, he was surprised to know that so many players of the first Mass Effect wanted Garrus to be a romance option in the second game. While Garrus is a beloved character in Mass Effect, his appearance doesn’t initially resemble something that might be considered attractive to humans. His reptilian features and alien proportions would understandably lead Karpyshyn and his team to perhaps leave Garrus out of the romance possibilities.

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However, once fans had spoken, Karpyshyn was sure that their demands would be met. “Once we saw what fans wanted, we decided to deliver!” he said in the Reddit AMA. Even without understanding the appeal of a Garrus romance, many fans were glad to see that it was added into the game. For many fans, it is the best romance in the trilogy and has produced plenty of pieces of Mass Effect fan art as a result.

Another character that Karpyshyn was surprised to see fan love for was Tali, a Quarian engineer who makes her way onto the Normandy in Mass Effect 1. Like Garrus, she cannot be romanced until Mass Effect 2. Again, Tali proved to be a fan-favorite character, something that Karpyshyn understood slightly, considering that she constantly wears a mask to cover her face and protect her from disease. “You never saw her face, so it was easy to imagine something vaguely human,” Karpyshyn said in regard to the decision to make Tali a character to be romanced.

Without these two romance options in the Mass Effect Trilogy, some fans would be left with a singleton Shepard. To many, having aliens that can be romanced helps promote the inclusivity the Mass Effect series is known for. Hopefully, with Mass Effect 4 being worked on, fans will have new alien partners soon enough.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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