Destinizish
Now Sleep Forever
I figure as someone who writes a lot and have done writing for random student film/game projects I'll address this a bit, but I have to spoiler tag it because I'll do a little about James after -
The thing is - you're expecting that the writing be tailored to an audience that has played the last two games. This is a fair assumption, but at the same time, they DO get new players that join the series with 2 and 3. As such, exposition needs to be set up, and fast. But they can't do it in a way that will bore the people who've played the last two. What you end up getting, is a whole lot of crazy fast action stuff for the old players, mixed in with some really quick exposition that goes along super fast for people who are just joining the series. For example as an old player I'm thinking, "Hey, here's my Shep, finally done with cerberus, guess he's back with the alliance. Ah, here's a new character to talk to later. ... Damn I have to talk about the reapers coming back? Really? I've known about this for two games. OH HOLY SHIT THEY ARE HERE HOORAY COMBAT" As a new player it goes more like "Ok, I'm playing a soldier. Ok, here's a guy who seems to idol me, so I've obviously done some cool stuff. Hm, what are the reapers? Obviously they're some kind of awful thing because everyone is scared of them. Oh shit that's a reaper? Oh shit it just blew everything up, and crazy stuff is happening."
In other words - you're taking for granted the amount of exposition they're giving new players because you already have that knowledge. They want to recap it for them, but move as quickly as possible through it so vets aren't bored. They achieved an OK balance, and the speed really only lasts through to about the Citadel. And the stuff that you learn through that entire amount of time?
-Who Shep is.
-Shep's relation to the galaxy, the alliance
-What Reapers are
-What Reapers plan to do/why they need to be stopped
-The main conflict of the game.
-What Cerberus is.
-What kinds of stuff Cerberus has been up to
-Shep's past with cerberus
-Shep's relation to Kaidan/Ashley
-What Kaidan/Ashley is up to this time, or how your relationship has evolved till now.
-Shep's relation to Liara
-What Liara is up to this time
-Shep's relation to Udina
-Who the Protheans were
-How Prothean data is stored
-The fact that Cerberus is after Prothean stuff too.
-The Citadel
-What the Citadel is/who lives on it.
-Introduction to SEVERAL alien races, and the entire peacekeeping system of the ambassadors.
-The power structure of the galaxy
Where vets pretty much get:
-Main Conflict
-What kinds of stuff Cerberus has been up to
-What Kaiden/Ashley/Liara are up to
-Cerberus after prothean stuff
This is a large difference, but ALL of that needed to be covered in the time you learned very little. So they needed to keep it fast paced and exciting for you.
As for James - this is actually explained. He idolizes you because you are a huge hero in the alliance. He obviously looks up to you for that. However, he also doesn't want to leave Earth. He wants to be part of the defense force and has only been put on the wrong ship at the wrong time for that to happen. His character is pretty much written as the hardcore soldier that wants to protect those he knows and loves and will put his life on the line to do it. When his Idol tells him to LEAVE Earth when that's where he can do exactly what he wants to do, of course he'd be a bit angry. And not only that, but right after that Shep puts him on door duty. Not a fun day for him.
In other words - you're taking for granted the amount of exposition they're giving new players because you already have that knowledge. They want to recap it for them, but move as quickly as possible through it so vets aren't bored. They achieved an OK balance, and the speed really only lasts through to about the Citadel. And the stuff that you learn through that entire amount of time?
-Who Shep is.
-Shep's relation to the galaxy, the alliance
-What Reapers are
-What Reapers plan to do/why they need to be stopped
-The main conflict of the game.
-What Cerberus is.
-What kinds of stuff Cerberus has been up to
-Shep's past with cerberus
-Shep's relation to Kaidan/Ashley
-What Kaidan/Ashley is up to this time, or how your relationship has evolved till now.
-Shep's relation to Liara
-What Liara is up to this time
-Shep's relation to Udina
-Who the Protheans were
-How Prothean data is stored
-The fact that Cerberus is after Prothean stuff too.
-The Citadel
-What the Citadel is/who lives on it.
-Introduction to SEVERAL alien races, and the entire peacekeeping system of the ambassadors.
-The power structure of the galaxy
Where vets pretty much get:
-Main Conflict
-What kinds of stuff Cerberus has been up to
-What Kaiden/Ashley/Liara are up to
-Cerberus after prothean stuff
This is a large difference, but ALL of that needed to be covered in the time you learned very little. So they needed to keep it fast paced and exciting for you.
As for James - this is actually explained. He idolizes you because you are a huge hero in the alliance. He obviously looks up to you for that. However, he also doesn't want to leave Earth. He wants to be part of the defense force and has only been put on the wrong ship at the wrong time for that to happen. His character is pretty much written as the hardcore soldier that wants to protect those he knows and loves and will put his life on the line to do it. When his Idol tells him to LEAVE Earth when that's where he can do exactly what he wants to do, of course he'd be a bit angry. And not only that, but right after that Shep puts him on door duty. Not a fun day for him.
