having 12 members in a squad was far too big. Instead, Mass Effect 3 will focus "on a smaller squad with deeper relationships and more interesting interplay. However, that doesn't mean one of your personal favourites won't return, quite the opposite in fact. Hudson went on to say: "We're bringing everyone back - every main character is in Mass Effect 3 somewhere".

Mass Effect 2 is probably my favorite game of all time, therefore it's hardly a stretch to sayis one of my all time most anticipated games as well. With that being said, I am worried about what Bioware has in store for us; all I keep hearing about is how Bioware is going to up the scale of the action and fix the RPG elements but what concerns me is what I am hearing about the characters. The biggest draw to the Mass Effect games is the characters and how your choices in the game affect the story. So far I have not liked what I have seen in the development stages as all the signs point to Mass Effect 3 minimizing our favorite characters. The creators at Bioware have indicated that certain characters may not be playable or get the screen time you or I want. The project director of Mass Effect 3 has already said:What this means is your favorite character is probably going to return in Mass Effect 3; however the amount of time or even if you can interact with that character on a meaningful level is suspect. I understand that twelve is too large of a cast to create good character interplay between squad mates, and I also like the fact that Bioware is doing this to create deeper relationships and more interesting interplay . However, what concerns me is the lack of choice in which squad members will be permanent. I am worried that my favorite character will be returning but not in the capacity that I want; for example one of my favorite characters from Mass Effect 2 is Jack. If she is not a playable character, or I dont get to use her until the very end of the game I will be disappointed. What I want is the ability to choose which characters I use and in Casey Hudsons words have deeper relationships and more interesting interplay The whole premise behind the Mass Effect series is how the choices you make affect the story and the characters; have a romance with Jack in Mass Effect 2 and see how well Miranda takes it. What I dont want to see happen in Mass Effect 3 is being forced to use four or five squad members that you may not particularly like; for example I am indifferent to both Liara or Kaidan and I would not enjoy being forced to interact with those two squad mates for the entire game when there are several other characters who I would enjoy having on the squad instead. If you like Liara or Kaidan that is great, but for those of us who prefer to have Jack or Jacob as our squad members we get screwed. In addition, Bioware has already confirmed that there will be at least one new character brought into the game; Mass Effect 3 will still have new characters and squadmates, so it isn't like everyone you see will be a familiar face ; so chances are there will be one less slot for a returning character on the squad mate list. What I am asking Bioware, is that they finish off their epic series by giving us what they always have:. Let the player have the option to determine who they want as a permanent squad mate and who they want to have deeper relationships with. Dont force use to use characters we might not care about; there are already rumors that Wrex will still not be back as a squad mate in Mass Effect 3 Casey also told us Tali will return as a full time squad member, but implied Wrex wont. There are a lot of people out there who like Wrex as a character who should have the choice to include him in their squad if they want.I know I might seem greedy for wanting this, but if Bioware was going to give us a choice on which characters to care about in the previous games they shouldnt be allowed to then say - "I know you liked Jacob however he is not a big part of Mass Effect 3 but here is a new character to replace him"; that kind of pisses me off. Again all I ask for is something I know a lot of Mass Effect fans want and that is the ability of choice, which characters are permanent squad members should be our decision. It only makes sense, you would not take someone you particularly dont like on the most dangerous mission of your career would you? If it was me I want to trust the person I am going into battle with and if I dont like that person why would I want that person by my side at critical moments? I am usually not a concerned person when it comes to video game development, especially when it is related to such a talented group of game designers like the ones at Bioware. I dont comment until I have played the game. However like I said Mass Effect 2 is one of if not my favorite games of all time and I dont want Mass Effect 3 screwed up. I think I speak for a lot of Mass Effect fans when I say; all we want is the choice to decide what characters we finish this epic space opera with. So I ask Bioware as a loyal fan who is even willing to stand up to those people who say Dragon Age 2 sucked; please dont force us to use characters we dont like, let the player decide who to go into battle with. The thing that made Mass Effect 1 and 2 so great was the ability of choice and how that affected the characters and story, I hope Bioware doesnt forget that.I do understand that Bioware is keeping a lot of things quiet about the characters and story for good reason and that we may hear more in the future. However, like I mention above they have confirmed smaller squads and that certain characters will not return as full time cast members, which is what I base my arguments off of.