I was playing the demo (as most everyone is probably doing), and the sudden disappearance of the kid from the vent got me really excited for a couple moments. This is because I thought maybe the writers were going to begin playing with Shepard's sanity which would be so perfect. I'm not advocating stating that Shepard was crazy all along but instead begins to crack from all the pressure that has been put on him. Not only has he been through a lot but everyone doubted him about the incoming invasion and now that its happening everyone is turning to him to save humanity or whatever. I feel like this element could easily elevate the sophistication of the story and make it more htan just blow up them reapers, but hey, who knows.

A problem that could arise if BioWare headed this direction would be that they are kind of taking control of Shepard away from the player. However, at this point Shepard is a pretty concrete character. Yes, you get to make decisions for him, but most often than naught these decisions are on a predetermined spectrum that does not vary that much. At his core, Shepard is a badass spacemarine, the player doesn't get much say in how cerebral he is etc. A game that tackled the player's sanity well (I believe, albeit I haven't played this game in a long time) is Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, where the character would see (Spoilers?) hallucinations of his dead friends and even go into states where he was the victim of events that never happened.

In sum, I think it would be pretty cool. What are your thoughts, if any? I don't think it's going to happen but a man can hope.

While playing I thought the kid in the duct was part of how the Reaper's were trying to indoctrinate Shepard... Until I found out I was wrong.