A staple of Bioware games and cherished piss-taking opportunity for headline writers across the industry, there was never any doubt that banging‘romance’ would be back in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Here’s everything we know about what romance is like in the new game, and whom is susceptible to it.
Check out your potential dance partners in our Mass Effect: Andromeda character guide.
Mass Effect: Andromeda romance options
“By my count, if you include squad, crew, and light romances, we have more romances than we’ve ever had before,” says creative director Mac Walters. “And like I said, the relationships are more in-depth than we’ve had before.”
Producer Mike Gamble is more direct: you can bang “so many” of the game’s NPCs, and “the banging is pretty good“, he says. There’s a man who knows what you want.
Here’s who we know are down to ride the Ryder. Note that just because you can flirt with someone doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll reciprocate, so we’ll focus only on confirmed romances here.
Cora
Romance option for Scott Ryder
The‘New Earth’ cinematic trailergave us a look at perhaps the first-ever human make-out session in the Andromeda galaxy – an ‘achievement unlocked’ moment if ever we heard one – in which starting squadmate Cora Harper gets it on with Scott Ryder. Cora is straight, and not interested in showing Scott’s sister the same kind of treatment.
You’ll usually find Cora tending plants in the Tempest’s bio lab or in Director Tann’s office on the Nexus. Flirt with her after story missions, complete her loyalty mission, and you should get a chance to meet up with her on Eos, where the relationship will progress.
Liam
Romance option for Sara Ryder
Liamseems taken aback when Sara Ryder first flirts with him, but he’ll straight-up shoot down her brother. As with Cora (and most others), flirt with him after story missions, help him with his movie night, and complete his loyalty mission.
Peebee
Romance option for Scott or Sara Ryder
In an interview,Peebee’s voice actress Christine Lakin saysshe’s “somebody who has never really trusted anyone. This is the first time that she’s allowed herself to open up and be a part of a team, or fall in love.” Peebee flirts freely with Scott and Sara and is even up for an early fling (of whichIGN have uploadedfootage) – here she makes clear that the encounter is a casual one, and that she doesn’t mind if you’re involved with someone else.
Persist in your courtship, and something more significant can evolve: help her with her secret project by taking her to find scrap on Voeld. Keep flirting and checking in with her after missions, and she’ll request a meeting at Aya’s museum. You can make a choice about the relationship after then, and continue to develop things by completing her loyalty mission.
Neil Pollner, her writer,tweetedthat she finds open-mindedness, self-reliance, unconventionality, and asymmetry attractive, so remember that if you wouldn’t mind feeling blue, so to speak.
Jaal
Romance option for Sara Ryder
After native Andromedan species the Angara were revealed in the New Earth trailer, a fan immediately and naturally asked whether he could “kiss” them.Mike Gamble’s responsewas “mhm”. Turns out you can only do that if you’re Sara Ryder.
Where you might expect a heart icon in Jaal’s dialogue wheel, you’ll instead see two figures embracing. Don’t worry about being friend-zoned, however: keep at it, and the tone of your trust-building conversations with Jaal will change. Check your email after completing his loyalty mission.
Vetra
Romance option for Scott or Sara Ryder
Does Vetra ever take that visor off?You bet she does. When flirted with, your street-smart Turian seems marginally more receptive to Scott’s advances than Sara’s, but she doesn’t outright reject the latter and is in fact open to both twins. Flirt with her in the Tempest’s armoury after main missions, as usual, and find her in the marketplace on Aya when you get there.
You’ll have an important opportunity to develop things after her loyalty mission, after which she’ll suggest a meeting place Kadara. Put her in your squad and drive to the waypoint – if all has gone smoothly so far, things can progress here.
Gil
Romance option for Scott Ryder
Gil is the Tempest’s engineer, and only has eyes for Scott Ryder. Stevivor have uploaded footage of all Scott’s dates with him to YouTube. If you’d like to see them for yourself, it’s a fairly straightforward courtship – flirt with him at every opportunity, particularly when the plot progresses, and play poker with him too. Eventually, he’ll invite you to meet up on Eos. Accede.
Suvi
Romance option for Sara Ryder
The Tempest’s science officer rebuffs your advances as Scott Ryder, but is very definitely interested in Sara (as can be seen inthis amusingly awkward scene). Much like Gil, all you really need to do is talk and flirt with her whenever Sara gets new stuff to say, so check in with her after every story development. Eventually, you can chill out with her in your quarters.
Reyes Vidal
Romance option for Scott or Sara Ryder
Reyes is your contact with the Angaran resistance, and a romance option for both the Ryder twins. You’ll meet him soon after you arrive on Kadara, one of the game’s earlier story planets. After your main business is concluded, look for a corpse in Kadara Port, scan it, and meet Reyes in the nightclub in the slums to discuss it.
Keri T’Vessa
Romance option for Scott or Sara Ryder
Keri is an Asari journalist who pesters you for an interview the second you set foot on the Nexus, and never really lets it go. Grant her requests and flirt with her in the middle of her interviews – she’ll ask you for new ones after each main mission.
Avela Kjar
Romance option for Scott Ryder
Disappointed that Jaal is straight? Scott players keen to hook up with a native Andromedan can instead pursue Avela – a female Angara and director of the museum on Aya. You can flirt with her when you first meet her on the docks, after which you’ll find her in the museum. Complete her side quests for chances to get closer.
Others
That’s everyone we know of who returns your interest, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try it on with others. Here’s everyone else we know who has a flirt conversation option:
- Lexi T’Perro,the Tempest’s doctor, who shoots you down as both Sara and Scott Ryder, saying you’re not as distracting as you think you are. Ouch. You can almost feel the anguish of thousands of Natalie Dormer fans.
That about wraps things up for Ryder. But if you were wondering… no, okay? Just no.
@raiskream @Faburisu @YanickRRoy @tibermoon you can't romance your twin. What the hell, man…
— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) December 30, 2016
Romance beyond Ryder
Who remembers Garrus and Tali’s adorable scene in the gun battery near the end of Mass Effect 3? If the player doesn’t romance either of them, the two tech-heads will form their own bonds, and your crew in Andromeda are no different.
Creative directorMac Walters says“the squad and crew definitely have their own relationships. And at least one ‘crush’ I can think of.” He may have been referring there to your Asari doctor,Lexi T’Perro, whowe learned has the hots for Drack. In our hands-on time with the game, Peebee also expressed curiosity about Jaal, wondering if the Asari ability to mate with all Milky Way species extended to the Andromeda natives.
How romance has changed in Mass Effect: Andromeda
Even if you’re not a Bioware virgin, there may still be a few surprises waiting in Andromeda when you set about working your charms.
“For me, typically in the trilogy it was a bit formulaic,” Walters says of romance, speaking toGame Informer. “You’d talk to them and then get to that one point in the game where there was no going back and romance was going to happen. That’s not real life. There should be some people who just want to hop in the sack immediately. There should people who are interested in a long-term relationship. There are people who aren’t interested in romance at all.”
Romance in Mass Effect: Andromeda is more mature, and more sensitive not only to the personal needs of each character but to the circ*mstances in which you find yourselves. Interactions used to feel a bit like lore dumps – “Hello, I’m an Asari, and when our species mate we do it like this” – whereas now, they’re more reflective of the individual and of what they need from you in that moment, if anything. If diverse sexualities ever felt forced or tokenistic to you in the past, Walters says the team took care to remedy that in Andromeda.
“It has to be a part of who they are,” he says. “It can’t just be, ‘we need to have three male and three female [options].’ We do look at the balance and make sure there’s good inclusivity, but I’d much rather say if we need to do that then we have to rethink that character.”
Accordingly, some characters are exclusively straight, others exclusively gay, others bisexual, and others show no interest in sex at all. Some characters prefer long-term, monogamous relationships, perhaps with a long build-up, while others are down with open relationships or casual flings, with little fore or afterthought.
Bioware are also aware that not every player will necessarily like the romance options available to their character, and that they, indeed, might not like you, depending on your playstyle. In the original trilogy, you generally had to be a nice person if you wanted to get laid – imagine that – leaving badass renegades all on their lonesome for an entire playthrough. In aseparate interview with IGN, Walters said “not everyone’s going to love every character, and you shouldn’t try to do that. We actually want to build some characters who are going to appeal to certain people… A lot of that actually comes because we have large writing teams. Different writers can invest in their characters in different ways, so you get this nice differentiation between all the different characters”.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the best recent example of this approach, with a broad mix of sexual preferences, attitudes towards commitment, and personalities and agendas who responded to different player behaviours.
Andromeda takes this further.Gone is Mass Effect’s simple nice/boring/hardass model; here instead are four tones, grouped in opposing pairs: casual or professional, and emotional or logical. Producer Fabrice Condominas told us that Ryder’s personality is slowly set by those tones, with new conversation options and character interactions unlocking when he or she reaches different thresholds within those personality types. It sounds similar to Hawke’s personality system in Dragon Age II, but with a little more depth.
Responding to fan queries about the system on Twitter, lead designer Ian Frazier said:
@caravaggio4lyfe @AarynFlynn @GambleMike It's possible to have Flirt + Investigates or Flirt + various Tone options, yup. 🙂
— Ian S. Frazier (@tibermoon) February 2, 2017
Mass Effect: Andromeda is still new, but, like inexperienced teenagers trying too hard, we’ll keep you updated with all our amorous discoveries.
