A Small Change that would Make Kai Leng's "Victories" Less Stupid
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2023 7:05 am
I HATE it when video games forces a player to lose in a cutscene as it reeks of lazy game design. If you're winning the fight only for the game to just let the villain win just screams of a developer who does not care about the gamer and of someone who doesn't take advantage of the media their in.
One of the most infamous examples of this is, without a doubt, Kai Leng in Mass Effect 3. The first time we meet Leng the game tries to present him as this badass and a serious threat because he will either kill Thane, Kirrahe or the Salarian Councilor. One of these three deaths WILL happen regardless of you're actions. In theory this is a good way to present a new antagonist but as has been pointed out this falls apart because the only reason Leng is any real threat is because the characters IQ drop to below that of Forrest Gump's with Thane charging at the guy with the sword while Thane has a GUN and Biotics.
Kirrahe, a skills combatant who is, by all accounts, a skill fighter in his own right dies because he takes a bullet meant for the Salarian Councilor instead of, oh I don't know, shooting Leng, punching Leng or just pulling the Councilor out of harms way. Any ONE of those would save the Councilor and keep Kirrahe alive but nope, he just stands there and let's himself get shot.
But the worst moment is, without a doubt, Leng's victory on Thessia. For me, Thessia is the WORST mission in the series, yes even worse then the ending and a big part of that is the boss fight with Leng. After utterly curb stomping him (and I checked he's even a joke on Insanity as I still beat him with under leveled gear in less then one minute) the cutscene starts and the game, through Kai Leng, flat out tells you that you are going to lose and then... this happens.
Leng throws down his sword and runs up to Liara and Liara who has guns and is a pretty powerful Biotic just STANDS there and let's Leng throw her across the room into your other squad mate who is either Garrus, Tali, Javik, Vega or Ashley/Kaidan and NONE OF THEM do anything. Then Leng calls in a Gunship which Shepard is helpless against despite destroying tons of GSs just like it in the last game and the game acts as if Leng is doing some sort of amazing trick that we have no defense against when the reality of it is the game is just letting him win by making everyone around him an idiot.
And you the worst part both Thane's death and the bit where Leng throws Liara across the room would be perfectly exceptionable had the game made ONE change: Make Leng and Biotic Vanguard.
That scene where he's fight with Thane and he stabs him, have it where Thane WASN'T charging at him but was, in fact, standing far away from him only for Leng to use a Biotic Charge against Thane and THAT'S how he gets stabbed. Same thing on Thessia, during the boss fight on Thessia where Leng isn't getting harmed because his personal shield is to powerful due to it being backed up by Reaper Tech you managed to knock his sword out of his hand and Leng uses the Biotic Charge again and goes straight for Liara where he then tosses her across the room just like in the original game.
I would buy that Thane's personal shield wouldn't be enough to protect him and that Liara would have no real way to protect herself from being tossed like a rag doll and that she and our other squad mate would be knocked out for a little bit. The Biotic Charge is OP as fuck and so far we've only seen one other boss in the series use this.
Boom, done! Now we have an actual reason as to why Leng wins that A) fits with the lore of the series. B) Doesn't make the characters look like idiots and C) Doesn't Make the Characters Look Like IDIOTS! And I know that was technically two things but one of those was such a big one that I felt it needed to be stated twice.
But yeah, making Leng a Vanguard would help to fix some of these issues and make him a boss battle that most fans would WANT to go up against as the two Vanguard bosses in the series are among the most popular boss battles in the series.
One of the most infamous examples of this is, without a doubt, Kai Leng in Mass Effect 3. The first time we meet Leng the game tries to present him as this badass and a serious threat because he will either kill Thane, Kirrahe or the Salarian Councilor. One of these three deaths WILL happen regardless of you're actions. In theory this is a good way to present a new antagonist but as has been pointed out this falls apart because the only reason Leng is any real threat is because the characters IQ drop to below that of Forrest Gump's with Thane charging at the guy with the sword while Thane has a GUN and Biotics.
Kirrahe, a skills combatant who is, by all accounts, a skill fighter in his own right dies because he takes a bullet meant for the Salarian Councilor instead of, oh I don't know, shooting Leng, punching Leng or just pulling the Councilor out of harms way. Any ONE of those would save the Councilor and keep Kirrahe alive but nope, he just stands there and let's himself get shot.
But the worst moment is, without a doubt, Leng's victory on Thessia. For me, Thessia is the WORST mission in the series, yes even worse then the ending and a big part of that is the boss fight with Leng. After utterly curb stomping him (and I checked he's even a joke on Insanity as I still beat him with under leveled gear in less then one minute) the cutscene starts and the game, through Kai Leng, flat out tells you that you are going to lose and then... this happens.
Leng throws down his sword and runs up to Liara and Liara who has guns and is a pretty powerful Biotic just STANDS there and let's Leng throw her across the room into your other squad mate who is either Garrus, Tali, Javik, Vega or Ashley/Kaidan and NONE OF THEM do anything. Then Leng calls in a Gunship which Shepard is helpless against despite destroying tons of GSs just like it in the last game and the game acts as if Leng is doing some sort of amazing trick that we have no defense against when the reality of it is the game is just letting him win by making everyone around him an idiot.
And you the worst part both Thane's death and the bit where Leng throws Liara across the room would be perfectly exceptionable had the game made ONE change: Make Leng and Biotic Vanguard.
That scene where he's fight with Thane and he stabs him, have it where Thane WASN'T charging at him but was, in fact, standing far away from him only for Leng to use a Biotic Charge against Thane and THAT'S how he gets stabbed. Same thing on Thessia, during the boss fight on Thessia where Leng isn't getting harmed because his personal shield is to powerful due to it being backed up by Reaper Tech you managed to knock his sword out of his hand and Leng uses the Biotic Charge again and goes straight for Liara where he then tosses her across the room just like in the original game.
I would buy that Thane's personal shield wouldn't be enough to protect him and that Liara would have no real way to protect herself from being tossed like a rag doll and that she and our other squad mate would be knocked out for a little bit. The Biotic Charge is OP as fuck and so far we've only seen one other boss in the series use this.
Boom, done! Now we have an actual reason as to why Leng wins that A) fits with the lore of the series. B) Doesn't make the characters look like idiots and C) Doesn't Make the Characters Look Like IDIOTS! And I know that was technically two things but one of those was such a big one that I felt it needed to be stated twice.
But yeah, making Leng a Vanguard would help to fix some of these issues and make him a boss battle that most fans would WANT to go up against as the two Vanguard bosses in the series are among the most popular boss battles in the series.