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[TheStam]

To me it's one of the most iconic performances that I can remember. It feels like people are insisting on people choosing female Shepard just because there was a decent female alternative. I definitely think male Shepard is the better performance although nostalgia might be playing tricks on me.. What say you GAF?

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Because female shepard sounds pettier and she's better at everything else, male shepard is just a captain america copycat.

 

[Stuart360]

Who says that?, male Sheperd is way better than Femshep.
Its cringy playing renegade with Femshep with her trying to sound tough lol.

 

[kyussman]

No idea.

 

[TexMex]

"People" don't say that, there's just a few "game journalist" articles that said that, and it spread to a small, vocal minority. Most of whom I'd wager have never even played Mass Effect.

 

[kretos]

Male Shepard is canon

 

[Mitsuda Maniac]

I will always play as male Shep so I can hear the line:

"I might do more than catch you, Kelly."

With the very weird inflection on Kelly.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

It’s just a bunch of annoying hipsters who only play Femshep and drink PBR

 

[Sub_Level]

Male Shep is also my preference but they're both great. I can't imagine being a fan and not doing both genders at least once.

 

[Spukc]

It’s a third person game.
so i rather stare at a woman’s booty

 

[Birdo]

Male Shepard is the face of the series (Well, he was until the industry..... took a turn).

 

[HellforLeather]

Honestly, I found the VA for male Shep to be too stoic. He's just so flat all the time and conversations with him don't sound like people naturally speaking. I started playing ME as male Shep though so I kept him throughout the series.

 

[Xaero Gravity]

Because Girl Power™

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Probably a stupid vocal minority moaning for nothing from bullshitera like usual, telling you that [insert_thing] is better than [insert_opposite_thing].
Both are great, just let people do what they want.

Note: replace *old man* by *vocal minority*

 

[Noboru Wataya]

there is only one true Shepard

 

[Bear*Walken*the*Sweeper]

there is only one true Shepard

 

[Skifi28]

I don't like him. Change my mind.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Forced meme by FemShep supports when you're VASTLY outnumbered of course you'll slander.

 

[ANDS]

I imagine it is because folks are just used to "gritty male character" in games. I mean Female Shephard plays it "gritty female character" but it is a different experience. I think they both do an excellent job with their performances.

. . .I will say he does look dumber than "FemShep."

 

[rkofan87]

i play femshep i love jh.

 

[fart town usa]

What!?

Male Sheppard is timeless, his aloofness is amazing. It's so hilarious, gives the game such a fantastic vibe. It's kind of like Jack Burton from Big Trouble in Little China, except that Sheppard is actually competent with his combat skills.

All the characters are awesome though. I bet female Sheppard is great too but never gone that route.

 

[Aion002]

They do? I always thought that people liked him.

He is probably the only customizable character that I didn't change a thing.

Female red hair shep is hot, but bald dude shep is charismatic.

 

[Fart Knight]

He's the hero we don't deserve

 

[Nickolaidas]

To me it's one of the most iconic performances that I can remember. It feels like people are insisting on people choosing female Shepard just because there was a decent female alternative. I definitely think male Shepard is the better performance although nostalgia might be playing tricks on me.. What say you GAF?

Don't worry your head about stuff like that. Go to your room and wait for me. We'll bang, ok?

 

[Investor9872]

Every time I'd tried to play FemShep back in the day, I would find myself missing my male Shepard.

 

[LOLCats]

ya thats not a thing. at least i havnt heard it before.

 

[mindfreak191]

I played through the whole trilogy as male Shepard, it never crossed my mind to play femshep, I usually always pick the male version if given the choice, except in Odyssey where Kasandra had a better voice actor and it made more sense for Alexios to be the antagonist, but I also don't go around bitching if a game only has a female playable character like some people do.

 

[carlosrox]

Cuz Man is inferior, didn't you know?

 

[rofif]

He is great and I will go a step further - I like his default look. It is THE shepard to me

 

[jonnyp]

To me it's one of the most iconic performances that I can remember. It feels like people are insisting on people choosing female Shepard just because there was a decent female alternative. I definitely think male Shepard is the better performance although nostalgia might be playing tricks on me.. What say you GAF?

Absolutely terrible voice acting by Mark Meer. Monotonous, robotic and stiff delivery. How on earth anyone likes it is beyond me.

 

[LQX]

Never played as male Shepard but female Shepard gives an amazing performance. Such a strong performance I started to default to female protags in other games when given the opportunity. Also, ME remains one of the few games where the character creator actually does a great job of translating how your character looks during creation to how they actually look in game.

 

[brian0057]

Because Jennifer Hale does an objectively better job for Shepard than Mark Meer.
FACT.

 

[Barakov]

Come to think of it, Female Shepard is one of things that heralded all this simping business.

 

[BadBurger]

I've only ever played as default male Shepard and he's great.

 

[Topher]

It was never about male vs female. It was about the horrible voice acting of the male Shepard. I remember this discussion back in 2007 or so. Male Shepard is so boring and monotone. I'm playing as female Shepard again right now for the same reason.

 

[Captain Toad]

He's pretty good after the first game. The first game seems very robotic and obvious he's recording each line out of context.

 

[Ceadeus]

The only thing giving people the illusion that both is different is the haircut. If Male Shepard had a more unic head style people would go WOW he has such persona that's crazy!

 

[TheInfamousKira]

I dunno, I used to respect Jennifer Hale's performances a lot, but I made the rookie mistake or looking up what kind of person she was outside of her work, and of course she's "better," than Mark Meer, she basically has like an eight video playlist consisting of bawling her eyes out over every facet of Mass Effect. She portrays it like it's the very mana that holds her spirit together, she's like the kingpin of all the reunion podcasts. Major far left cat lady vibes.

Whereas Mark is just sort of like "yeah, I'll do some signatures and cosplays and say we'll bang, okay, and I should go and and people will smile,"

And Hale is like "I FIND IT SO REFRESHING THAT WE CAN GET INTO THE SHOES OF AN UNCHARACTERISTICALLY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN LIKE JACK AND THE LESBIAN RELATIONSHIP WITH TRAYNOR (WHO IS ALSO A POC) TALKING ABOUT PICKET FENCES MADE ME DROWN IN MY OWN TEARS, BUT I WAS REVIVED BECAUSE OF MY ASARI BLOOD, LIVE LONG AND PROSPER,"

Gross.

 

[brian0057]

but I made the rookie mistake or looking up what kind of person she was outside of her work

"Never meet your heroes" is a saying for a reason.

I follow just a handful of the people that make stuff I like because 9 times out 10 they turn out to be giant pieces of shit.

 

[Manwithoutfear]

because it's cool trendy and the woke thing to say.

 

[yet_another_alt]

Mark Meer has a pretty unique voice. Jennifer Hale is just Jennifer Hale again.

 

[vodka-bull]

Because everything that‘s not female, queer, black or handicapped is shit, didn‘t u know?

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Mark Meer has a pretty unique voice. Jennifer Hale is just Jennifer Hale again.

This is also pretty true. I think (granted I don't follow her work) the most diverse sound I ever heard from her was OG MGS Naomi, back when characters still had regional accents. Every other role I've heard her in was just Jennifer Hale reading a script-sounding. I largely felt the same about Troy Baker until I heard Joel/Ocelot/Joker.

 

[Ozzie666]

He's Iconic to me, end of story. I think the voice actor Mark Meer did a great job. He really grew into the role as the series went on. I could not imagine anyone else playing the role. Jennifer Hale will always be Bastila to me, and she has a massive amount of experience in the industry. Meer punched above his wait for a relatively unknown Canadian voice actor.

 

[qiqiqiiq]

In all my playthroughs of the series I always go with default male Shepard, I love his delivery of the "big stupid jellyfish" line.

 

[yet_another_alt]

This is also pretty true. I think (granted I don't follow her work) the most diverse sound I ever heard from her was OG MGS Naomi, back when characters still had regional accents. Every other role I've heard her in was just Jennifer Hale reading a script-sounding. I largely felt the same about Troy Baker until I heard Joel/Ocelot/Joker.

The way I think about it is that if I randomly heard Mark Meer's voice while walking down the street, I'd go "wow, it's Commander Shepard" but if I hear Jennifer Hale, I'd go "wow, it's Jennifer Hale"

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Because male Shepherd is more of a robot than a character.

His delivery is deadpan and emotionless in most cases.

 

[Null Persp]

I played through the series with male Shepard and he's great, and the renegade version is hilarious.

 

[Griffon]

I found FemShep VA to be slightly better. Both are alright.