Jacob...is the only love interest that cheats on you. Immediately. And then acts like a complete douche about it. I'm sorry, but...how is it surprising people loathe him?
Great quote from an ME article I read recently. "The problem with Jacob isn’t that he’s boring. The problem with Jacob is that he refuses to open up in any way. When you ask about his experience with the Corsairs, he makes a blanket statement and says that life is behind him. When you ask about his relationship with Miranda, he refuses to go into details. When you ask about his father after his loyalty mission, he doesn’t want to talk about it. How are players supposed to connect with a character who doesn’t seem to want to connect with them?"
And in ME2 if you do pursue a romance with him but then change your mind he acts like you're the worst person ever. So two faced considering he starts banging someone else.
what's worse is that Bioware tries to force him on you with the dialogue wheel, thank goodness Dragon Age always had the heart option added to their wheel when they first tried it in Dragon Age 2
Pretty weird to say he cheats on Shepard when Shep literally chooses to go back to an organization that wouldn't want Jacob around, which is absolutely fine and understandable Shep can do whatever the hell they like with their life. But expecting someone to wait around for someone that may never come back is ridiculous. Always got the impression the pair split up amicably between games and then the game wants you to get salty that he moved on.
Nearly every strategic decision Jacob suggests is actively poor. He suggests going for the Reaper IFF immediately. He wants to space the intact Geth instead of either trying to speak with it or study it. He volunteers for the Vents knowing he doesn't have the tech skills required to do the job. He's rude to your other squadmates in their introductions. He casually drops the mention of EDI, the AI, to the Quarian knowing their history with AI with no attempt to soften the blow, when he knows she already distrusts him. He's just straight up actively rude to Thane for no good reason, especially if he was present on the mission to see personally that there's more to him than just an Assassin. He's incredibly bland gameplay-wise. He's just not an interesting character personality-wise.
I really don't get what they were trying to do with Jacob. He's so bland and uninteresting, and has close to no character development. Like, every other character has some sort of interesting character arc, but Jacob doesn't. It doesn't help being in a crew with the likes of Garrus, Tali and Liara either
In fact the only character Jacob should be rude to is Zaeid! I can understand Jacob being disrespectful at basically a mercenary who does whatever if he gets paid. His talk about alliance makes him a good soldier and I can see him being in conflict with random ass mercenary. Thane conflict with Jacob felt out of place because of that reason because if you are rude to very ideological assasin who regrets his actions (which he honestly couldn't know) then he should be also going ham on Zaeed who LOVES being a merch.
@@dasdas7752I think Jacob was supposed to be a normal everyman type of guy to contrast from the rest of the party, but Bioware fucked up and made him actively unlikable.
Also he's the only romance option that cheats on you, and no matter what you do it will always happen. And then he has the fucking nerve to push the blame on to YOU. Absolutely unlikable, trash tier character. The only good thing about Jacob is his loyalty mission and that's in spite of him, not because of him.
What doesn't help is that almost every time Jacob and Miranda both give you advice on how to proceed, Jacob gives you the bad advice. Listening to him will get most of your squad killed.
Fr. Take the Legion debate for example. Miranda tells you to sell it to Cerberus, a bad option because it denies you a squadmate and the money isn't really that useful by that point in the game. This should be a homerun for Jacob to take the opposing, right option of activating Legion but no he suggested you throw Legion out the airlock. A decision so categorically stupid it's not even an option the game allows you to do. Like how are you going to write a squadmate whose advice is so bad you don't even give the player the option to act on it.
He will not only cheat, but in ME2 he gives the worst possible advice and more importantly if femshep turns him down at the last moment he doesnt respect the consent.
Jacob is the one who suggested going after the Reaper IFF as soon as possible, and then to go through the Omega 4 relay right away to save the crew after the Collectors took them. Yes, the crew was thankfully saved, but at what cost?
Playing devil's advocate here. The whole arc where he cheats on femshep is maybe Bioware giving the player the chance to give their femshep more character development. Your femshep can either understand that Jacob has found someone else while they were parted, which does happen in real life. Or femshep can get pissed off and end up punching the guy in the Citadel DLC. So it's more about a character arc for femshep than it is for Jacob. Just a thought.
I'm kinda indifferent to Jacob. He's not a bad character or a good character. I don't hate him. His loyalty mission is kinda interesting. And I always make sure he doesn't die. I wouldn't romance him but I definitely don't want him to die.
I kinda expected this discusion between you and Jane Shepard to break down like the first conversion between Commander Shepard & Sovereign. You: "You're not alive; not really. You're just a machine, and machines can be broken". Jane: "Your words as as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over". Video ends abruptly.
I'll say this I really didn't mind ME2 Jacob. Romanced him on my first nearly blind playthrough and I actually found it funny/cute that the flirting was awkward between the two at first before they settled into some kind of rapport. And I liked that Jacob's romance allows Shepard to really open up about the whole "back from the dead" thing. That doesn't even get touched on again, or anywhere else for that matter, until the end of game 3. At least not in a meaningful way that Jacob's romance allows for. Literally everywhere else it's like "you died!" "I got better." until the end of 3. That said the devs and writers did him sooooo incredibly dirty in ME3. Even without a Shepard romance he's just a dude that goes sit on a beach. What should've happened is that after the events of ME2 he quits Cerberus and gets back in contact with his old Cosair group. They have resources but on his way out of Cerberus he remembers an old friend, Brynn Cole, who's still in Cerberus and he uses some Cosair resources to see how she's doing. Turns out she fell in love with a random Cerberus dude and married him but things are tense between them. Jacob now has two choices use the rest of Cosair resources to keep in touch with Shepard while she/he is in lockdown or try to save Brynn. He tries to save Brynn as he figures that he can contact Shepard later. With Jacob alive he & team Cosair convince Brynn and her husband to quit Cerberus and when the reapers start attacking everywhere they get under attack by Cerberus. They're able to get themselves and the families out alive, along with the scientists that wanted to quit too, but at the cost of Jacob's team. Jacob gets a command of a ship by order of Adm Hackett after the mission and if Shepard romanced him he's more than willing to continue the romance but he can't abandon his command so it'll be continuable whenever he's on shore leave. War asset wise you get Brynn Cole, Jacob, and Cerberus scientists. With Jacob dead Brynn's husband can't be convinced to quit Cerberus and he ends up betraying her. She can only escape with a few families that were left in Cerberus' care that wanted out. Zero scientists make it out. War asset wise you only get points for saving her specifically. Simple as that. Doesn't trash Jacob. Follows up on his whole "Cosair" thing. Gives him some actual respectable backbone with maturity that he can handle, what basically amounts to, a long distance relationship with Shepard. Also gives him the best reason why he can't join the crew. Additionally follows up on the fact that the SM designates him as a good leader.
I agree that ME 3 did A BUNCH of damage to Jacob's character. Bioware dropped the ball in ME 2, picked it back up in ME 3, and then dipped it in cement before dropping it again.
Tell me about it. Trying to talk to him and get him to open up and reveal more info is like: "Hey Jacob, what's up?" "I'm not big on forcing these talks." "Yo Jacob! How do you feel about our team?" "I'm good Shepard. We'll be drinking at the Citadel together!" "Okay...what do you actually think of the team?" "I'm not big on forcing these talks." "Jacob, what did you think about your loyalty mission dude?" "..." "Let me guess, you're not big on forcing these talks?" "I'm not big on forcing these talks." Christ almighty, getting JACK to open up was more rewarding than Jacob!
jacob was alright in the second game. i felt that he was a supportive member of my crew, and came off better than miranda at first because of how openly hostile she can be toward you and other party members. plus, i like his voice. also, cheating on you is probably the most interesting thing he does as a character. im not defending him for that but at least there's some drama for the people that actually do like him. i think your jane AI put it best when she said that she doesn't hate him, she just doesn't care about him. if not for the fact his gf is voiced by jo wyatt in the third game, i wouldn't even remember he was there.
Problems with Jacob in a nutshell; * He doesn't open up * He's overshadowed by deeper characters * He clashes with more popular characters * He's not a good squadmate from a gameplay perspective * He's the only one who cheats on Shepard (other love interests even have more obstacles to overcome in their relationships but remain faithful)
He's not a good man. Good men don't cheat on Shepard... He couldn't even be bothered to write an mail and explain himself. Not to mention he's just straight up racist to Garrus if you decide to go with him rather than Jacob.
AI Jane got some things wrong. Jacob was critical of Cerberus. He told Shepard about who they we’re working for and if you talk to him he states that Cerberus has a history of being terrorist.
Not only is Jacobs advice exclusively bad, so bad in fact that if you follow it it'll get him killed in the end. He is excessively rude to several crew members. Thane, who comes on the mission for free because it is a worthy mission, he attacks as just a mercenary, while not having any issues with Zaeed, who actually is just a merc. And he basically ambushes Tali with the sentient AI on the ship when she joins for no reason whatsoever. And then in the time between ME2 and ME3 he sits on a fucking beach doing NOTHING whatsoever. Shit in a fight too. Bad, bad, horribly bad team member to take on a mission with you, by far the weakest companion in the series.
Jacob shows how bad he is at reading people at least 3 times. Twice with Tali, and once with Thane. He says he's not there to second guess Shepherd but then disagrees with almost everything Shepherd wants to do (ex: activate Legion). He doesn't earn his place on Shepherds squad and frankly doesn't deserve to be there as he offers nothing unique.
And to say that he's the only one who volunteered to go into the shaft even though it's "suicidal" ... every single person on the ship is on a "Suicide Mission"
I never hated him, I just couldn't see any good reason to take him along on missions once I had somebody who was better. Almost any biotic is stronger than him, even Miranda whose opinion of herself is exaggerated. As a soldier he's only so-so and any of the other soldiers is more useful. He's really just another Kaiden who is only useful until you have better. Once I have Ashley and Liara, or Wrex, Kaiden's usefulness has ended. Same with Jacob. He's competent in his loyalty mission, but only barely really, and only if I have a better 3rd companion to support him.
I dont have a problem with Jacob, good dude. I invite him to the party but I dont take him on my missions. He sees himself as a follower, he needs to go out there and make his own name
I just thought about something. Maybe Jacob is a reflection of the player or a player that rushes through the game. He cheats on you (who didn't get a new romance in the second game huh?), gives bad advice and has no real "personality" other than his adventures as a corsair and then ended up with cerberus. Shepard's adventure in mass effect was not directly part of the alliance but still had their hand in directing Shepard what to do, and the red tape of the council stifled the hunt for Saren. Maybe they thought people could relate when they saw themselves in the mirror of Jakob but people don't like what they see...
I’ve got not particular love for Jacob, but at the very least, there’s a sliver of consideration to just go talk. For all Jane knows, he needs a paper clip for an otherwise functional “reaper sweeper” that could end everything.
Im on the Jacob hater side😂 just in a cast with so many interesting and diverse stories...he's kinda basic. Outside of his loyalty mission theres not really anything else interesting about him.
Me after spending 90% of the game with Jacob and completing his loyalty misson: Hey Jacob, want to chat Jacob: "Already? I'm not big on forcing these kind of things Sheppard...."
I watched a video about why hes worse than people think and it says all the reasons people don't like him but adds that where hes the first and only black squad mate and he has so many harmful stereotypes surrounding his character. He has absentee father, and He cheats on you, and gets another woman pregnant. At least he stays loyal to Dr cole but seriously he's a bad stereotype and he never wants to open up to shepherd and if you reject him, he's super cold to you. He acts like It's a serious thing that you guys are like together. And if you're like hey maybe not. He's like super pissed about it. But then is like oh but I just like left you in 6 months and got a girl pregnant. I don't think the writers meant for it to be this way, but he has a lot of racist stereotypes and the fact that he's just kind of boring and not loyal to you really doesn't help and on the surface level just as like a bro, he's fine, but I also feel like it's totally valid that people don't like him
You conveniently left out the part where Jacob went out of his way to tell Tali to introduce herself to the ships AI... Ya know... the same kind of being that (in her mind) slaughtered her people's ancestors and took over their homeworld.... Dick move. lol Edit: AND OH YEAH! Not to mention at the time Jacob said that, Tali had JUST LOST HER ENTIRE TEAM TO SYNTHETICS!
That, and he gets very hostile towards Thane: an assassin who is offering his services to Shepard for free and is slowly dying. Also, I only realize just now that his "say hello to EDI" comment was so out-of-touch. I mean, I don't expect anyone in the ME universe to know everything but c'mon.
Main problem with Jacob is how is he written and described. For Jane he is just some plain guy working for Cerberus. And in some way, she is right. Mordin is described as brilliant scientist, Kasumi as master thief and Thane is one of the most skilled assassins. Even Miranda is something more, because her body was geneticaly enhanced to be perfect and she led Lazarus project. But Jacob, none of that. He is just portrayed as some henchman. One of many Cerberus soldiers, background NPC. Others you must find a by doing that, you get to know them a little. Jacob is there from the start. You even met him as one of Cerberus in time when you think of them as bad guys. So i understand the lack of love. But it´s not right.
I think his arc could have been better, he is the one "normal" guy on a ship full of badasses. Jack is the most dangerous criminal, Thane the most dangerous assassins, Grunt the perfect Krogan, Garrus saved the galaxy with sheppard and is basically space batman, then there is Jacob....whose just there. He constantly acts jealous of the other people, but he doesn't grow from it. He is just someone who sits on the ship hating and refusing to give any more details of his life. I hate his line for not talking "Already? I'm not big on forcing these things Sheppard". Especially late in a play through, he refuses to give any details on anything. It isn't even funny bad like Garrus saying "Another time I'm in the middle of some calibartions" its just bad. Especially when his father arc happens, right after the mission he basically says "I don't want to talk about it I moved on" then refuses to ellaborate.
The problem with Jacob is he feels so underdeveloped compared to the rest of the cast, even characters who don’t get enough screen time like Samara. Doesn’t help his development when he refuses to open up about anything so you never get a real sense of who he truly is as a person. He’s ok but he just feels like a nothing character compared to everyone else. The only thing he really had going for him in ME2 was that he was a nice enough guy, a bit of a bro and loyal but what he’s capable of doing in ME3 calls all of that into question.
I once invented a fix for Jacob: he should've taken Miranda's role in ME3 and vice versa. That way, there wouldn't be a stupid cheating scenario, it would justify his desire to change the world for the better, make him more competent and unwilling to bow to authority. Also this would improve the meh Horizon mission IMO.
Ok, given ok the context, I actually agree with you. I liked Jacobs character in mass effect 2. He's a dude who stuck to his convictions and went to anyone he could to get shit done. Sure, that was ignorant, but he's a loyal person willing to do anything so that as little people as possible die, and is willing to die himself to do so. BUT, in me3, I hate him, because that loyalty straight up goes out the window with the femshep romance, and he now has abandoned that conviction. They completely rewrote his character. It's an ok arc in the context of his relationship with his dad, he's wants to be a better dad than his, but he's still a cheater who abandoned his resolve when the GALAXY is literally ending.
Huh on hearing this rant from Jane again I remembered that I tried to romance him on my first femshep play through and she said something similar to Jacob about being an adult and I HURT HIS FEELINGS and he wouldn’t talk to shepherd anymore after that. Stop Jane when she starts telling lies.
TBH I agree mostly but the biggest issue with Jacob is compared to everybody else he is just boring. Like literally I'd rather sit and talk to Jack (who can be outright bitchy) than Jacob. If there were less companions then maybe he wouldn't be overlooked, but it's why Kaiden/Ashley and James are more well liked than Jacob. Granted if you told me to rank just these ones. It'd be: James, Jacob, Kaiden then Ashley.
When I think of Mass Effect, Jacob never comes to mind. Hes super boring and forgettable as a character. He refuses to open up to Shepard and when you ask him about his backstory or about his father he doesn't want to talk about it or gives no info. Jacob was clearly written to be sort of like a very close friend to Shepard, but I really don't get how they thought that would work with all his dialogue AND already being in a crew with characters players have already been with before and love.
Me3 massively ruins Jacob. It would have been fitting if he died heroically in the suicide mission to give his bravery some significance. Me3 built on every character well except Jacob who went backwards. Side note he has some strange comments on recruiting new squadmates and is oblivious to cerberous despite his loyalty mission and seeing their mistakes such as with Jack.
Here's my defense of Jacob: He's okay. He's realistic. He's relatable. He feels like a real person, in the middle of a Space Opera. Here's why I still don't like him: Real people are kinda terrible and almost nothing Jacob thinks or does is morally or ethically justifiable, regardless of how likely any of us are likely to do the same.
Jacob is not just boring, he always gives you the worse advice, he really is so incompetent. And he is the worse romance option because he cheats on Shepard. I'm with Jane on this one Jacob sucks hahahahahaha
Two things, first who remembers the slap mod for Jacob in mass effect three of after saving him, you just walk up and slap his shit and he’s just like… yeah I deserved that, second I had no issue with the man, did not ever bother to romance him but sided with him in most cases to piss off the Cerberus cheerleader because it was funny to me, in truth I never really used him because I liked grunt, thane, legion and the og team, even doing a couple dozen 100% runs the only thing he had going for him was his loyalty mission and well still fun but ehhhh……. While in 3 you randomly meet back up on a mission and at most if you clipped it from three he might have 15 maybe 18 minutes of audio if you add the citadel dlc it’s a shame our boy legion was not at the party I miss my robot buddy.
Idk why people hate Jacob and James so much.. both are great.. when you play as a male Shepard those too more like best friends, brother and best comrade...
@@woodpecker8116 but of course.. I never said that Jacob and James are in the best ME characters realm alongside Liara, Garus, Wrex, Tali, etc.. but those 2 got a lot of heat for no reason.. and I don't know why..
I never got the hate on James. He's super funny and his interactions with the other characters are great. I wish he had more dialogue in ME3, but of course EA had to ruin that..
James suffers from being introduced in the final game, especially when other companions you have had within the rest of the series are easy to pick back up and choose James would do a lot better if Mass Effect was more like Dragon Age and you got to play as a different character
For my part, I don't dislike Jacob, and I find anyone who attacks his cheating on Shepad very hypocritical because everyone has at least one playthrough where they cheated on the VS or Liara with a ME2 squadmates, but the writers did him no favors, and Jane gave the most logical in world explanation to not bother with him.
Saying the player can somehow "cheat" on the VS is just so wrong. Yes I'm aware the devs consider it "cheating" too, with both Ashley & Kaidan as there's some code that apparently removes a trust point with them if the player romanced them in 1 and had another romance in 2, but they're wrong too. With both VS they flat out call you a traitor and refuse to speak with you further. Sure they send you an e-mail afterwards but they both end on a "maybe we can reconnect later" kind of note and Kaidan specifically talks about him dating other people. That's a "break up but hope we can still be friends" thing by the metric most people's standards. With Liara you have a bit of a point but ultimately we're players playing a game. The devs and Jacob's writers are absolutely in the wrong to have Jacob cheat on Shepard when the game mechanics outright lock you out of other ME2 romances once you're committed to one true romance path which Jacob 100% is treated like. At least if you're playing femshep who is the only one that can romance Jacob in the first place. Broshep can outright cheat on either Tali or Miranda with a ONS with Jack just before the SM if he wants. The "cheating lover" thing would only be fair if it only happened to Brosheps that had a ONS with Jack but then romanced Tali or Miranda. So Tali or Miranda get with someone else if Broshep tries to "play the field" in ME2. But of course that doesn't happen. It ain't fair at all to punish femshep players who finally get the option between two men in a single game. Also yes I'm aware that Thane is an option and I actually prefer his romance to all the options in the games. It's still not what I would consider a "true" option tho. The man's dying and next game doesn't give him a cure. So the devs had actually only given femshep two relationship options in ME2. And then they reduce that number to 1 and made Kaidan bi so brosheps can have him too. So overall they were just comfortable giving femshep 2 of her own full relationship options. Garrus and Samantha. The full gravity of making Jacob a cheater is that they were removing a full third of her own unique true relationship options.
Well not everyone, I for one have never cheated on any of my playthroughs cause I couldn't imagine doing that to someone I care about, That's what makes it even more infuriating to me, If you do decide to pursue another crewmate you can atleast tell your current love interest, something Jacob does not do for the 6 months shepard is in custody, and he waits until a stressful combat situation to tell you "Oh btw I got someone pregnant" something even shepard doesn't have the option to do, Jacob is definitely the worse of the two situations
![Fallout: New Vegas except I let an A.I. make the choices for me [#6 - To Infinity & Beyond]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/caxX8fn2-qE/mqdefault.jpg)
Jacob...is the only love interest that cheats on you. Immediately. And then acts like a complete douche about it. I'm sorry, but...how is it surprising people loathe him?
Great quote from an ME article I read recently.
"The problem with Jacob isn’t that he’s boring. The problem with Jacob is that he refuses to open up in any way. When you ask about his experience with the Corsairs, he makes a blanket statement and says that life is behind him. When you ask about his relationship with Miranda, he refuses to go into details. When you ask about his father after his loyalty mission, he doesn’t want to talk about it. How are players supposed to connect with a character who doesn’t seem to want to connect with them?"
And in ME2 if you do pursue a romance with him but then change your mind he acts like you're the worst person ever. So two faced considering he starts banging someone else.
what's worse is that Bioware tries to force him on you with the dialogue wheel, thank goodness Dragon Age always had the heart option added to their wheel when they first tried it in Dragon Age 2
Pretty weird to say he cheats on Shepard when Shep literally chooses to go back to an organization that wouldn't want Jacob around, which is absolutely fine and understandable Shep can do whatever the hell they like with their life.
But expecting someone to wait around for someone that may never come back is ridiculous.
Always got the impression the pair split up amicably between games and then the game wants you to get salty that he moved on.
@@coffeekat5066 and so instead of breaking up with FenShep, he cheats on her. Point blank.
Nearly every strategic decision Jacob suggests is actively poor. He suggests going for the Reaper IFF immediately. He wants to space the intact Geth instead of either trying to speak with it or study it. He volunteers for the Vents knowing he doesn't have the tech skills required to do the job.
He's rude to your other squadmates in their introductions. He casually drops the mention of EDI, the AI, to the Quarian knowing their history with AI with no attempt to soften the blow, when he knows she already distrusts him. He's just straight up actively rude to Thane for no good reason, especially if he was present on the mission to see personally that there's more to him than just an Assassin.
He's incredibly bland gameplay-wise.
He's just not an interesting character personality-wise.
I really don't get what they were trying to do with Jacob. He's so bland and uninteresting, and has close to no character development. Like, every other character has some sort of interesting character arc, but Jacob doesn't. It doesn't help being in a crew with the likes of Garrus, Tali and Liara either
In fact the only character Jacob should be rude to is Zaeid! I can understand Jacob being disrespectful at basically a mercenary who does whatever if he gets paid. His talk about alliance makes him a good soldier and I can see him being in conflict with random ass mercenary. Thane conflict with Jacob felt out of place because of that reason because if you are rude to very ideological assasin who regrets his actions (which he honestly couldn't know) then he should be also going ham on Zaeed who LOVES being a merch.
@@dasdas7752I think Jacob was supposed to be a normal everyman type of guy to contrast from the rest of the party, but Bioware fucked up and made him actively unlikable.
Also he's the only romance option that cheats on you, and no matter what you do it will always happen. And then he has the fucking nerve to push the blame on to YOU.
Absolutely unlikable, trash tier character. The only good thing about Jacob is his loyalty mission and that's in spite of him, not because of him.
What doesn't help is that almost every time Jacob and Miranda both give you advice on how to proceed, Jacob gives you the bad advice.
Listening to him will get most of your squad killed.
Fr. Take the Legion debate for example. Miranda tells you to sell it to Cerberus, a bad option because it denies you a squadmate and the money isn't really that useful by that point in the game. This should be a homerun for Jacob to take the opposing, right option of activating Legion but no he suggested you throw Legion out the airlock. A decision so categorically stupid it's not even an option the game allows you to do. Like how are you going to write a squadmate whose advice is so bad you don't even give the player the option to act on it.
He will not only cheat, but in ME2 he gives the worst possible advice and more importantly if femshep turns him down at the last moment he doesnt respect the consent.
Jacob is the one who suggested going after the Reaper IFF as soon as possible, and then to go through the Omega 4 relay right away to save the crew after the Collectors took them. Yes, the crew was thankfully saved, but at what cost?
Playing devil's advocate here. The whole arc where he cheats on femshep is maybe Bioware giving the player the chance to give their femshep more character development. Your femshep can either understand that Jacob has found someone else while they were parted, which does happen in real life. Or femshep can get pissed off and end up punching the guy in the Citadel DLC.
So it's more about a character arc for femshep than it is for Jacob. Just a thought.
it is weird how it only happens to femshep, why doesn't Jack cheat on Maleshep or something
I mean, this implies that originally the option to be pissed at him was locked behind paywall so it doesn't really do the game much credit
I'm kinda indifferent to Jacob. He's not a bad character or a good character. I don't hate him. His loyalty mission is kinda interesting. And I always make sure he doesn't die. I wouldn't romance him but I definitely don't want him to die.
the writing in mass effect is so good that indifferent means the worst character, I personally send him to vents as constructive criticism to bioware.
@@salamantics your comment really made me laugh. Thank you for that. And yeah, I totally get what you are saying.
I kinda expected this discusion between you and Jane Shepard to break down like the first conversion between Commander Shepard & Sovereign.
You: "You're not alive; not really. You're just a machine, and machines can be broken".
Jane: "Your words as as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over".
Video ends abruptly.
I'll say this I really didn't mind ME2 Jacob. Romanced him on my first nearly blind playthrough and I actually found it funny/cute that the flirting was awkward between the two at first before they settled into some kind of rapport. And I liked that Jacob's romance allows Shepard to really open up about the whole "back from the dead" thing. That doesn't even get touched on again, or anywhere else for that matter, until the end of game 3. At least not in a meaningful way that Jacob's romance allows for. Literally everywhere else it's like "you died!" "I got better." until the end of 3. That said the devs and writers did him sooooo incredibly dirty in ME3. Even without a Shepard romance he's just a dude that goes sit on a beach.
What should've happened is that after the events of ME2 he quits Cerberus and gets back in contact with his old Cosair group. They have resources but on his way out of Cerberus he remembers an old friend, Brynn Cole, who's still in Cerberus and he uses some Cosair resources to see how she's doing. Turns out she fell in love with a random Cerberus dude and married him but things are tense between them. Jacob now has two choices use the rest of Cosair resources to keep in touch with Shepard while she/he is in lockdown or try to save Brynn. He tries to save Brynn as he figures that he can contact Shepard later. With Jacob alive he & team Cosair convince Brynn and her husband to quit Cerberus and when the reapers start attacking everywhere they get under attack by Cerberus. They're able to get themselves and the families out alive, along with the scientists that wanted to quit too, but at the cost of Jacob's team. Jacob gets a command of a ship by order of Adm Hackett after the mission and if Shepard romanced him he's more than willing to continue the romance but he can't abandon his command so it'll be continuable whenever he's on shore leave. War asset wise you get Brynn Cole, Jacob, and Cerberus scientists.
With Jacob dead Brynn's husband can't be convinced to quit Cerberus and he ends up betraying her. She can only escape with a few families that were left in Cerberus' care that wanted out. Zero scientists make it out. War asset wise you only get points for saving her specifically.
Simple as that. Doesn't trash Jacob. Follows up on his whole "Cosair" thing. Gives him some actual respectable backbone with maturity that he can handle, what basically amounts to, a long distance relationship with Shepard. Also gives him the best reason why he can't join the crew. Additionally follows up on the fact that the SM designates him as a good leader.
I agree that ME 3 did A BUNCH of damage to Jacob's character. Bioware dropped the ball in ME 2, picked it back up in ME 3, and then dipped it in cement before dropping it again.
1:49 uh yeah? He's barely interested in talking once you get aboard the ship. He's like "informal huh?"
Tell me about it. Trying to talk to him and get him to open up and reveal more info is like:
"Hey Jacob, what's up?"
"I'm not big on forcing these talks."
"Yo Jacob! How do you feel about our team?"
"I'm good Shepard. We'll be drinking at the Citadel together!"
"Okay...what do you actually think of the team?"
"I'm not big on forcing these talks."
"Jacob, what did you think about your loyalty mission dude?"
"..."
"Let me guess, you're not big on forcing these talks?"
"I'm not big on forcing these talks."
Christ almighty, getting JACK to open up was more rewarding than Jacob!
jacob was alright in the second game. i felt that he was a supportive member of my crew, and came off better than miranda at first because of how openly hostile she can be toward you and other party members. plus, i like his voice.
also, cheating on you is probably the most interesting thing he does as a character. im not defending him for that but at least there's some drama for the people that actually do like him.
i think your jane AI put it best when she said that she doesn't hate him, she just doesn't care about him. if not for the fact his gf is voiced by jo wyatt in the third game, i wouldn't even remember he was there.
Problems with Jacob in a nutshell;
* He doesn't open up
* He's overshadowed by deeper characters
* He clashes with more popular characters
* He's not a good squadmate from a gameplay perspective
* He's the only one who cheats on Shepard (other love interests even have more obstacles to overcome in their relationships but remain faithful)
who cheats on someone who could potentially end the universe?
Add his advice is horrible, it shows his immaturity, which can be endearing but there is just 0 character growth
He's not a good man. Good men don't cheat on Shepard... He couldn't even be bothered to write an mail and explain himself. Not to mention he's just straight up racist to Garrus if you decide to go with him rather than Jacob.
We can all agree the greatest Jacob moment is when he said 'its Jacobin time!' and Jacobed all over the Normandy.
His loyalty mission is pretty good though
I agree with Jane. I can’t stand how Jacob has the least to say out of all squad mates. Casually dismissing the commander at times.
El douche bagalo!
AI Jane got some things wrong. Jacob was critical of Cerberus. He told Shepard about who they we’re working for and if you talk to him he states that Cerberus has a history of being terrorist.
Not only is Jacobs advice exclusively bad, so bad in fact that if you follow it it'll get him killed in the end. He is excessively rude to several crew members. Thane, who comes on the mission for free because it is a worthy mission, he attacks as just a mercenary, while not having any issues with Zaeed, who actually is just a merc. And he basically ambushes Tali with the sentient AI on the ship when she joins for no reason whatsoever.
And then in the time between ME2 and ME3 he sits on a fucking beach doing NOTHING whatsoever.
Shit in a fight too. Bad, bad, horribly bad team member to take on a mission with you, by far the weakest companion in the series.
Praise thee Vent God Jacob and his infinite wisdom and judgment
wait, jacob can be a companion?
Jacob shows how bad he is at reading people at least 3 times. Twice with Tali, and once with Thane. He says he's not there to second guess Shepherd but then disagrees with almost everything Shepherd wants to do (ex: activate Legion). He doesn't earn his place on Shepherds squad and frankly doesn't deserve to be there as he offers nothing unique.
And to say that he's the only one who volunteered to go into the shaft even though it's "suicidal" ... every single person on the ship is on a "Suicide Mission"
He's not bad as long as you don't romance him. He wants to do right by Brynn and not make the same mistakes that his father did.
Jacob is certainly not a top-tier character, but I was kind of uncomfortable reading many jokes about people wanting him dead no matter what
For real. I don't get why people brag about killing him off.
I never hated him, I just couldn't see any good reason to take him along on missions once I had somebody who was better. Almost any biotic is stronger than him, even Miranda whose opinion of herself is exaggerated. As a soldier he's only so-so and any of the other soldiers is more useful. He's really just another Kaiden who is only useful until you have better. Once I have Ashley and Liara, or Wrex, Kaiden's usefulness has ended. Same with Jacob. He's competent in his loyalty mission, but only barely really, and only if I have a better 3rd companion to support him.
I dont have a problem with Jacob, good dude. I invite him to the party but I dont take him on my missions. He sees himself as a follower, he needs to go out there and make his own name
I just thought about something. Maybe Jacob is a reflection of the player or a player that rushes through the game. He cheats on you (who didn't get a new romance in the second game huh?), gives bad advice and has no real "personality" other than his adventures as a corsair and then ended up with cerberus. Shepard's adventure in mass effect was not directly part of the alliance but still had their hand in directing Shepard what to do, and the red tape of the council stifled the hunt for Saren. Maybe they thought people could relate when they saw themselves in the mirror of Jakob but people don't like what they see...
I’ve got not particular love for Jacob, but at the very least, there’s a sliver of consideration to just go talk. For all Jane knows, he needs a paper clip for an otherwise functional “reaper sweeper” that could end everything.
i agree but i go out of my way to insult him whenever he says something corny (which is every time), then vent God status from there.
Im on the Jacob hater side😂 just in a cast with so many interesting and diverse stories...he's kinda basic. Outside of his loyalty mission theres not really anything else interesting about him.
It is not Jacob's fault that he is the weakest link, or useless... blame the writers for that
Me after spending 90% of the game with Jacob and completing his loyalty misson: Hey Jacob, want to chat
Jacob: "Already? I'm not big on forcing these kind of things Sheppard...."
Honestly, if you're someone who's only played male Shepard, the worst You'll think of Jacob is that he's kind of boring
I watched a video about why hes worse than people think and it says all the reasons people don't like him but adds that where hes the first and only black squad mate and he has so many harmful stereotypes surrounding his character. He has absentee father, and He cheats on you, and gets another woman pregnant. At least he stays loyal to Dr cole but seriously he's a bad stereotype and he never wants to open up to shepherd and if you reject him, he's super cold to you. He acts like It's a serious thing that you guys are like together. And if you're like hey maybe not. He's like super pissed about it. But then is like oh but I just like left you in 6 months and got a girl pregnant. I don't think the writers meant for it to be this way, but he has a lot of racist stereotypes and the fact that he's just kind of boring and not loyal to you really doesn't help and on the surface level just as like a bro, he's fine, but I also feel like it's totally valid that people don't like him
The video is from Pikmonwolf for anyone wondering
to complete the stereotype, he has to leave femhaw.....that Doctor
You conveniently left out the part where Jacob went out of his way to tell Tali to introduce herself to the ships AI... Ya know... the same kind of being that (in her mind) slaughtered her people's ancestors and took over their homeworld.... Dick move. lol
Edit: AND OH YEAH! Not to mention at the time Jacob said that, Tali had JUST LOST HER ENTIRE TEAM TO SYNTHETICS!
He also said to space Legion... Jacob is a dick 😅
That, and he gets very hostile towards Thane: an assassin who is offering his services to Shepard for free and is slowly dying.
Also, I only realize just now that his "say hello to EDI" comment was so out-of-touch. I mean, I don't expect anyone in the ME universe to know everything but c'mon.
I actually never thought about that. I thought she was just annoyed at Jacob but that actually makes a lot of sense.
@@bluesrikeI'm pretty sure he was just being racist. He's shown to be hostile to all the non human crew other than grunt and he's ya know cerberus
I do wonder if this defense of Jacob led Jane to not do so many other loyalty missions afterwards.
Main problem with Jacob is how is he written and described.
For Jane he is just some plain guy working for Cerberus. And in some way, she is right. Mordin is described as brilliant scientist, Kasumi as master thief and Thane is one of the most skilled assassins. Even Miranda is something more, because her body was geneticaly enhanced to be perfect and she led Lazarus project.
But Jacob, none of that. He is just portrayed as some henchman. One of many Cerberus soldiers, background NPC. Others you must find a by doing that, you get to know them a little. Jacob is there from the start. You even met him as one of Cerberus in time when you think of them as bad guys. So i understand the lack of love. But it´s not right.
I think his arc could have been better, he is the one "normal" guy on a ship full of badasses. Jack is the most dangerous criminal, Thane the most dangerous assassins, Grunt the perfect Krogan, Garrus saved the galaxy with sheppard and is basically space batman, then there is Jacob....whose just there. He constantly acts jealous of the other people, but he doesn't grow from it. He is just someone who sits on the ship hating and refusing to give any more details of his life. I hate his line for not talking "Already? I'm not big on forcing these things Sheppard". Especially late in a play through, he refuses to give any details on anything. It isn't even funny bad like Garrus saying "Another time I'm in the middle of some calibartions" its just bad. Especially when his father arc happens, right after the mission he basically says "I don't want to talk about it I moved on" then refuses to ellaborate.
The problem with Jacob is he feels so underdeveloped compared to the rest of the cast, even characters who don’t get enough screen time like Samara. Doesn’t help his development when he refuses to open up about anything so you never get a real sense of who he truly is as a person. He’s ok but he just feels like a nothing character compared to everyone else. The only thing he really had going for him in ME2 was that he was a nice enough guy, a bit of a bro and loyal but what he’s capable of doing in ME3 calls all of that into question.
I am neutral on Jacob, but the way Jane rips into him was uncalled-for.
I once invented a fix for Jacob: he should've taken Miranda's role in ME3 and vice versa. That way, there wouldn't be a stupid cheating scenario, it would justify his desire to change the world for the better, make him more competent and unwilling to bow to authority. Also this would improve the meh Horizon mission IMO.
Ok, given ok the context, I actually agree with you. I liked Jacobs character in mass effect 2. He's a dude who stuck to his convictions and went to anyone he could to get shit done. Sure, that was ignorant, but he's a loyal person willing to do anything so that as little people as possible die, and is willing to die himself to do so. BUT, in me3, I hate him, because that loyalty straight up goes out the window with the femshep romance, and he now has abandoned that conviction. They completely rewrote his character. It's an ok arc in the context of his relationship with his dad, he's wants to be a better dad than his, but he's still a cheater who abandoned his resolve when the GALAXY is literally ending.
Huh on hearing this rant from Jane again I remembered that I tried to romance him on my first femshep play through and she said something similar to Jacob about being an adult and I HURT HIS FEELINGS and he wouldn’t talk to shepherd anymore after that. Stop Jane when she starts telling lies.
The only thing I like about jacob is that people hate him so much, they leave my boy kaidan alone
TBH I agree mostly but the biggest issue with Jacob is compared to everybody else he is just boring.
Like literally I'd rather sit and talk to Jack (who can be outright bitchy) than Jacob. If there were less companions then maybe he wouldn't be overlooked, but it's why Kaiden/Ashley and James are more well liked than Jacob. Granted if you told me to rank just these ones.
It'd be: James, Jacob, Kaiden then Ashley.
When I think of Mass Effect, Jacob never comes to mind. Hes super boring and forgettable as a character. He refuses to open up to Shepard and when you ask him about his backstory or about his father he doesn't want to talk about it or gives no info. Jacob was clearly written to be sort of like a very close friend to Shepard, but I really don't get how they thought that would work with all his dialogue AND already being in a crew with characters players have already been with before and love.
I love how even ai Jane hates Jacob
I don't hate him, I just think he is boring and sometimes I forget he is even on the Normandy.
Me3 massively ruins Jacob. It would have been fitting if he died heroically in the suicide mission to give his bravery some significance. Me3 built on every character well except Jacob who went backwards.
Side note he has some strange comments on recruiting new squadmates and is oblivious to cerberous despite his loyalty mission and seeing their mistakes such as with Jack.
Here's my defense of Jacob: He's okay. He's realistic. He's relatable. He feels like a real person, in the middle of a Space Opera.
Here's why I still don't like him: Real people are kinda terrible and almost nothing Jacob thinks or does is morally or ethically justifiable, regardless of how likely any of us are likely to do the same.
I mean, Jacob is okay character and would be good if Mass effect had only human characters.
Jacob is not just boring, he always gives you the worse advice, he really is so incompetent. And he is the worse romance option because he cheats on Shepard. I'm with Jane on this one Jacob sucks hahahahahaha
Vent god forever. 🥵
Nice to hear a different pov
Jacob is good in fact, but what he bad is on romance with Jane, what he do to her in ME3 are too bad 😤
But in channel he is a king and it's top
I'm not big on forcing these talks
Two things, first who remembers the slap mod for Jacob in mass effect three of after saving him, you just walk up and slap his shit and he’s just like… yeah I deserved that, second I had no issue with the man, did not ever bother to romance him but sided with him in most cases to piss off the Cerberus cheerleader because it was funny to me, in truth I never really used him because I liked grunt, thane, legion and the og team, even doing a couple dozen 100% runs the only thing he had going for him was his loyalty mission and well still fun but ehhhh……. While in 3 you randomly meet back up on a mission and at most if you clipped it from three he might have 15 maybe 18 minutes of audio if you add the citadel dlc it’s a shame our boy legion was not at the party I miss my robot buddy.
Ummmm Jane. Jacob Is YOUR Personal Issue & Your HIS Personal Issue.
Idk why people hate Jacob and James so much.. both are great.. when you play as a male Shepard those too more like best friends, brother and best comrade...
But garrus and Wrex are better friends, even Kaidan is better for that role. Tbh i felt more connected with the Doc on my first playthrough.
James is like the best written alliance member in the trilogy. Freddy Prinze is so charming.
@@woodpecker8116 but of course.. I never said that Jacob and James are in the best ME characters realm alongside Liara, Garus, Wrex, Tali, etc.. but those 2 got a lot of heat for no reason.. and I don't know why..
I never got the hate on James. He's super funny and his interactions with the other characters are great. I wish he had more dialogue in ME3, but of course EA had to ruin that..
James suffers from being introduced in the final game, especially when other companions you have had within the rest of the series are easy to pick back up and choose
James would do a lot better if Mass Effect was more like Dragon Age and you got to play as a different character
I like him but dam even ai hates him
For my part, I don't dislike Jacob, and I find anyone who attacks his cheating on Shepad very hypocritical because everyone has at least one playthrough where they cheated on the VS or Liara with a ME2 squadmates, but the writers did him no favors, and Jane gave the most logical in world explanation to not bother with him.
Saying the player can somehow "cheat" on the VS is just so wrong. Yes I'm aware the devs consider it "cheating" too, with both Ashley & Kaidan as there's some code that apparently removes a trust point with them if the player romanced them in 1 and had another romance in 2, but they're wrong too. With both VS they flat out call you a traitor and refuse to speak with you further. Sure they send you an e-mail afterwards but they both end on a "maybe we can reconnect later" kind of note and Kaidan specifically talks about him dating other people. That's a "break up but hope we can still be friends" thing by the metric most people's standards.
With Liara you have a bit of a point but ultimately we're players playing a game. The devs and Jacob's writers are absolutely in the wrong to have Jacob cheat on Shepard when the game mechanics outright lock you out of other ME2 romances once you're committed to one true romance path which Jacob 100% is treated like. At least if you're playing femshep who is the only one that can romance Jacob in the first place. Broshep can outright cheat on either Tali or Miranda with a ONS with Jack just before the SM if he wants. The "cheating lover" thing would only be fair if it only happened to Brosheps that had a ONS with Jack but then romanced Tali or Miranda. So Tali or Miranda get with someone else if Broshep tries to "play the field" in ME2. But of course that doesn't happen. It ain't fair at all to punish femshep players who finally get the option between two men in a single game.
Also yes I'm aware that Thane is an option and I actually prefer his romance to all the options in the games. It's still not what I would consider a "true" option tho. The man's dying and next game doesn't give him a cure. So the devs had actually only given femshep two relationship options in ME2. And then they reduce that number to 1 and made Kaidan bi so brosheps can have him too. So overall they were just comfortable giving femshep 2 of her own full relationship options. Garrus and Samantha. The full gravity of making Jacob a cheater is that they were removing a full third of her own unique true relationship options.
the player isn't given a chance to break up with their LI, and the cheating isn't dependent on femshep cheating, so you don't have a point
Well not everyone, I for one have never cheated on any of my playthroughs cause I couldn't imagine doing that to someone I care about, That's what makes it even more infuriating to me, If you do decide to pursue another crewmate you can atleast tell your current love interest, something Jacob does not do for the 6 months shepard is in custody, and he waits until a stressful combat situation to tell you "Oh btw I got someone pregnant" something even shepard doesn't have the option to do, Jacob is definitely the worse of the two situations
TRUTH !!!
Long live the King