Celebrating Mass Effect’s tenth anniversary, former Bioware animator Jonathan Cooper tweeted a series of ten facts about the game. Amongst them, one tweet focuses on how The Office influenced the game. Specifically, Cooper states that “the close over-the-shoulder camera style I used for conversations in Mass Effect was inspired primarily by Ricky Gervais’ Extras.” His follow-up to The Office is the last thing to expect on a list of Mass Effect’s influences.

Another interesting tweet of Cooper’s reveals that “Bioware traditionally used black bars to denote interactive conversations, but we won a heated argument to remove them for Mass Effect to blur the line between interactive dialogue and cutscenes.” It was a revolutionary change that worked well with The Office-style camera shots. Although the conversations in Mass Effect were inspired by a certain degree of awkwardness, this influence does not relate, explicate, or excuse Mass Effect Andromeda’s facial issues at launch.

Mass Effect: 7 Most Memorable Moments in Series History - Normandy SR1

Cooper’s tweets come in celebration of Mass Effect’s tenth anniversary, which might prompt a discussion about a remaster of the trilogy. However, to date, there are no known plans to remaster the Mass Effect Trilogy. Perhaps this will change with the trilogy as it turns ten-years-old, or perhaps this trilogy has been exhausted.

Alongside the tweet about the influence of a Ricky Gervais TV show, Cooper describes how difficult it was to avoid “the dead stare commonly found in games.” The level of animation applied to the game was both masterful and thorough. Without such animation, the decisions of Mass Effect would not have been as difficult. Awkward animations may have ruined many powerful moments such as deciding what to do with the Rachni queen or choosing between fighting Sovereign.

Expecting a remastered Mass Effect trilogy may only be wishful thinking, but this celebration of its ten-year anniversary creates a high level of nostalgia. The trilogy is available on both next-gen consoles for those seeking to indulge their nostalgia. Whether it was inspired camera shots or the revolutionary change to the interactive conversations, Mass Effect was the beginning of a series many would argue is worthy of celebration.

Mass Effect is currently available on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

Source: Videogamer