Mass Effects’ New Romance-Removing Mod Reviewed

Asexual and aromantic players may find the alien romances in the Mass Effect games to be appealing, but it’s all too easy to fall into an unintended relationship, which can be both frustrating and off-putting.

A new mod has been released to address this issue.

A new Optional Flirting Mod is now available, according to The Gamer, which modifies the dialogue wheel to ensure that romances are opt-in only for players.

As part of the Legendary Edition, the mod can be applied to Mass Effect 3.

The mod’s creator phoenixsoul13, says on the information page that he’s always found it frustrating that being friendly in ME3 tends to lead to fending off romantic interests from people, unless you’re in a rush to lock in your love interest before spending quality time with anyone else, you just want to be friends with.

The former is annoying, while the latter is a distracting solution (not to mention one that isn’t suitable for those who don’t want to be romanced).

The mod rearranges the dialogue wheel’s options so that players can quickly choose between a friendly, flirty, or renegade option. Even if Shepherd is just being friendly, it ensures that romances aren’t assumed.

The mod can be used in conjunction with the More Gay Romances mod, which currently includes Jack and Miranda’s same-sex romances.

Same-sex romances were cut from the original version of the game, which disappointed many LGBT+ fans. Furthermore, the Optional Flirting Mod makes the game more accessible to asexual and aromantic players who don’t want to engage in romantic activities.

Twitch streamer Twstd says that he loved the game, but the romances aren’t a make or break for me, plus BioWare has a nasty habit of shoehorning you into ships you don’t want and the ace chick will appreciate the addition of the mod.

Another ace Twitch streamer, CauseImEd, thinks the mod has a lot of potential saying that he thinks the mod is definitely a good feature for accessibility and comfort for ace/aro people ang that he’d like to see more mods in the future that allow both flirting and sex to be toggled separately.

Many games sadly lack asexual representation, with the Mass Effect series being notable for forcing romance on the player.