Do it again, and again, until you know what floor everyone’s on like the back of your hand.īecause you do this over the course of not just one game, but three, there is a huge sense of time investment in the physicality of the ship. The fact that conversations aboard the ship “unlock” after completing a major mission encourages that routine, that navigation of the space: go back to the Normandy. You develop a routine, walking from the CIC to its mess hall, from its engine room to its infirmary to (in the second and third games) places like your captain’s quarters or the observation lounge. If you want to get the most out of Mass Effect, you have to engage with the ship in a personal way, more than just the vehicle to get from mission to mission. It sounds simple, and it is, but the physical interaction of traversing its space is part of what helps make the Normandy feel so welcoming.
In the opening hours of Mass Effect, your player character - Commander Shepard - inherits the ship from their mentor figure and the closest thing to an actual friend at that point in the series - Captain Anderson - after a series of events on a distant human colony catapult Shepard to a presence of galactic importance. It’s a one-of-its-kind stealth recon ship built as a peacekeeping project between humanity and an alien species called the Turians, who had briefly been at war with Earth colonists just decades prior to the game. The Systems Alliance Space Vehicle Normandy sits at the very heart of the entire Mass Effect saga. But its best moments are found not out in its wide sci-fi world, but in its answer to home. The Mass Effect series is no different, charting us a galaxy to explore and defend.
In ways few other mediums really can, video games give us the opportunity to interact with and be part of a fantastical space on a personal level. Creating a sense of place is fundamental to what makes video games work.