10 Annoying Characters That Stopped Great Video Games Being Perfect

5. Liara - Mass Effect

With so many squad-mates to choose from in Mass Effect, it was always a tad frustrating when campaign missions forced you into using specific ones. Obviously this was essential and believable at times, but it always seemed to have a larger impact on Shepard and his companions than would have been necessary.

One character who always enjoyed far too much of that time and attention was Liara, the Asari. Her emotions and pleas always illicit majorly empathic reactions in Commander Shepard, no matter how the player may have been trying to gear a particular approach.

The result led to some unavoidable sequences and progressions, like Shepard's moves to placate Liara at all times during the mission to Thessia, which are tonally out of place if you've been leaning towards a more Renegade playthrough.

Perhaps Liara's annoyance can be chalked up to some design or writing flaws in some places, but she represents the most obvious and frustrating examples of Mass Effect games taking a lot of their well-touted "freedom" away from players.