A face by any other name would apparently not look as sweet, not when it comes to Mass Effect. After three games of watching the young Quarian Tali’Zorah nar Rayya grow from an adolescent trying to prove herself into a full-fledged Admiral of the Migrant Fleet, mysteries still remained at the close of Mass Effect 3. Not the least of which was the fact that she’d done all the maturing behind an opaque face mask.
As had the entire race of Quarians, and with Mass Effect 3‘s Extended Cut DLC, BioWare decided to show that masks are a thing of the past. However, the reveal they conjured up shows that they still aren’t showing as much of the Quarians as fans would likely hope.
It’s hard to disagree with the coy approach taken by BioWare, since the studio came under fire when they actually did show Tali’s face in a photograph acquired if she became a love interest of the player’s. Fans of Tali and all Quarians called the developers “lazy” for merely photoshopping a stock image to appear more in keeping with an alien physiology. While those attacks may have been justified given the high level of work put into other characters’ appearances, no actual facial modeling, or in-game reveal is not necessarily a sign of laziness.
In fact, the developers have come up with more than a few ways to play on audience hopes of seeing the Quarian unmasked, most notably when Tali’s mask was removed in a romantic scene of Mass Effect 2. Conveniently kept out of frame or sight except to Commander Shepard, players around the world had their hopes raised, only to be dashed. At the time though, it’s hard to think there wasn’t as much frustrated laughter as actual disappointment.
The reaction from fans was to come up with versions of Tali that better fit the spirit of the Mass Effect universe themselves, creating truly breathtaking fan art not motivated by a need to quell debate or put a nice end to a romantic cut-scene. A debate could be held on whether the individual player’s mental image of Tali is any more right than that of BioWare, but an official reveal was without a doubt the top priority for many players.
If there was ever a time for the developers to finally show what the three-fingered, spacefaring species looked like from the shoulders up, the Extended Cut was it. The fan reaction to their photoshop skills was an open wound many still carry, and an actual drawing (from scratch) of Tali’s face by one of BioWare’s own artists would be much easier to accept as ‘official.’ And according to the game’s fiction, one of the side effects of a possible Geth/Quarian alliance was an accelerated immunity system in the inhabitants of Rannoch, making their suits no longer necessary after a short period of time. So now that the Extended Ending showed an unmasked Quarian on Rannoch, the mystery was over, right? Wrong:
Unfortunately, it seems BioWare is still unwilling to show the Quarians with faces free from obscurity, as a slight profile is all that’s visible. Two eyes, a nose and a mouth can be checked off the list, so the alien race can also be added to the alarmingly long list of those distinguished from humans by the slightest of variables. The reveal still does live up to its name, since the face is unmasked, but perhaps BioWare’s hesitancy to show all their cards is a sign of things to come.
We know the Mass Effect universe is far from over, and the changes brought with the new endings show that the storytelling spark is still present among the writers. Anyone familiar with BioWare can already imagine the possible explanations for Quarians clinging to hooded clothing, or even masks as shown in the image’s background. Perhaps the clothing and masks (and heightened sensitivity to body language it brought) have become fundamental to Quarian culture, not ready to be removed just yet. Or for those who saved both Geth and Quarians and brokered a peace between the two, perhaps the wearing of indistinguishable masks is a sign of friendship and commonality with the hive-mind sentient race.
If BioWare does intend to feature the Quarians or Rannoch in future games and novels, then perhaps the newer, unmasked version of the race is something they’re intent on keeping separate from Shepard’s adventure. Whatever the case may be, it seems that fans of the series will have to use their imagination just a little while longer.
After all, keeping a little bit of mystery in Mass Effect 3‘s conclusion isn’t a bad thing.
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Never in my life as a Sci-Fi fan have to digest how stupid a big name such as Bioware having trouble with revealing the Quarian’s TRUE face in all its glory.
It still upsetting that we, spending years following the story and coming up with the best talents Bioware has to offer and NO ONE in their right mind can’t show us what Tali really looks like.
How the infamous Joker would put it, ” I’M DONE!”
The really silly part is, from and in game lore perspective, finding out what a Quarian looks like shouldn’t be a big deal. The Quarian/Geth war was only about 300 years ago. You’d think there would be a picture or thousand in the Citadel archives from before then…
Thats true, there should even be asari around that still remember them personally.
Ever had to wear scuba gear for any length of time ? You’re face is all f’d up afterwards. Now imagine having to wear a full suit 24/7. The quarians would be pretty… pretty messed up looking.
I’m sure they would have made their suits comfortable and not able to mess them up if they have to wear it all the time. Plus, a quarian suit is not like a scuba suit. Nothing is pressed against their faces. They have room between them and the mask, so their faces are fine.
Not to mention that they are great engineers and an advanced humanoid alien race.
I’m guessing that Geth talking to Tali is Shepard reincarnated after Synthesis?
Would make sense.
>:3
Hahaha
That’s not Tali in the picture… It’s a random Quarian female. Still, that image is suggesting Tali looks similar.
Exactly. I noticed they said it was Tali in the image and that isn’t Tali. It’s just a random Quarian female I suppose. You can tell its not here because of the suit. Their suits are used to identify them to a degree. I believe Bioware was just showing that Quarian society didn’t need mask anymore.
Assuming Shepard didn’t eradicate them because…..actually come to think of it, I don’t know anyone who would’ve passed up the chance to save them. Weird.
I’m furious that they didn’t show Tali. No, instead they went the cheap, lazy way of putting a stock picture of a random girl in. That’s b*******. Its even worse if you had a relationship with her dince the begining. I expected more from you Bioware.
http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Quarian
I’m sad that my relationship with Tali ended so abruptly. Can honestly say that Tali is my favorite female videogame character. It’s a sore disappointment that the relationship was actually really short when you think about it, and you’ll never get to expand on it again.
Goodbye Shepard and Tali.
The relationship was short because Shepard removed her suit and got a nice whiff of her stank.
You may want to change the article as I don’t believe the Quarian showed in that scene was tali. I believe it was just meant to show a Quarian. If you notice the outfit and colors don’t match Tali. So I’m guessing that is jut a random Quarian talking to a geth. I could be wrong but if so could someone point me to the fact that Bioware said that was Tali?
I don’t believe it is though as its just showing what life on rannoch was like for Quarians in general.
Fair enough. I guess we just assumed it was for some type of closure. It doesn’t explicitly say it’s NOT her though
And actually thanks to that comment above, I will forever interpret this image as a synthesized Shepard coming back to chat her up. (“I know, I know, I’m Geth now!”)
The writer of this is an idiot. If the geth survived then they are no longer part of a hive mind because of the reaper upgrade and given the endings of the extended cut there is no room for more games since all the bogeymen of the mass effect universe (geth, collectors, reapers) have been dealt with. Any future mass effect games are likely to be or prequals or side stories during events of shepherds story arc. Everything has been explained and future games would be a letdown considering the reaper threat has “been dealt with”
Well I appreciate your appraisal, but if someone chose two out of the three possible endings, the Geth did survive, and exactly what form they then take is NOT explained or illuminated. Also, the exact effect of the Reaper upgrade on the Geth is only ever discussed with Legion explaining what he thinks will happen.
Considering how many different ways the game ended, the future of the Universe could be completely different. Releasing a game set in each possible future could be just as, if not far more interesting than just a prequel when we know how the story ends.
What about the leviathans?