Dear Bioware: Please Do Right by Mass Effect 4
By: Laura Halls
Tags: Gaming, Storytelling, Narrative, Videogames, Features

Dear Bioware: Please Do Right by Mass Effect 4

The release of the Mass Effect 4 trailer gave fans a lot of anticipation and some idea of what to expect from the next installment in the iconic franchise. One of the most interesting things came straight away with the trailer showing us a shot of both the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. I think we can expect to travel between both galaxies, or maybe the story will include elements of the original trilogy and Andromeda.

It all came at a rather interesting time. I’m a huge fan of Mass Effect Andromeda, I think it was a great game with an undeservedly vile reputation. It’s gotten somewhat better in the four years since its release but still remains a game a lot of fans are angry about.

Just a few months ago the remaster of the original trilogy arrived, which I think may suggest where the next game in the series is going. Of course, there’s a lot more to suggest the game is taking us back to the end of the original trilogy, but I do find it interesting with the timing of everything in this regard.

Spoilers ahead for all Mass Effect games.

Speculation, hold fire!

Now, I do want to get to the job of speculating what might occur from Mass Effect 4 when it finally releases. The trailer gave a shot of both the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, with the implication that perhaps the stories of both are involved. To a certain extent, this was the story of Andromeda though it did have its own main story.

One of the main aspects of the Andromeda story was the fact that the journey to that galaxy took 600 years. Andromeda technically started after the events of Mass Effect 2 however, so by the time we actually get into the meat of things, it has fast-forwarded to a time centuries later.

While Mass Effect 4 is almost certainly going to return to characters and story beats from the original trilogy, I’d be very surprised if it was set in the immediate aftermath of the third game. It just wouldn’t make a lot of sense from the standpoint of the story and would be much better suited if it took place after the Andromeda initiative was set up fully, or even fully after the events of Andromeda. If this wasn’t the case then it would render the release of Andromeda pointless in my opinion, so it’s best to assume that this is the time period when the game will likely take place.

Despite the fact that this would be more than 600 years after the events of Mass Effect 3, there would still be a lot of good stuff around in this setting. For example, many of the characters we grew to know and love in the original games would still be alive and well. We glimpsed Liara in the trailer so it’s safe to say she’ll be making a return. It’s possible that Wex may make a return as well as other favorites.

Given the events of the original trilogy and the fact that the ‘Destroy Ending” is almost certainly going to be the canon ending, we are going to get a radically different setting to what we got in any of the original three games. We’ve already gotten a hint of this at the end of Mass Effect 3.

Don’t mess up Shepard

When a new Mass Effect game is on the horizon and it’s in the same setting as the original games, the question of Shepard and his survival is going to be on everyone's mind. On the assumption that he does return as the main protagonist, I can only hope that Bioware doesn’t mess it up.

The fact that Liara, in the trailer, finds a piece of N7 armor seems like an obvious signifier that Shepard is making a return. Given that the game is going to take place centuries after the end of Mass Effect 3, it might at first seem impossible that Shepard could be alive. However, I just don’t think that Bioware would take us back to the Milky Way and include that Liara scene if they didn’t intend to include Shepard. It should be noted that Jennifer Hale has expressed a desire for Shepard to return in the new game.

Despite this, there are some problems that Bioware is going to have to avoid to not make this feel like a cliche. Shepard being brought back to life in Mass Effect 2 felt authentic partly because it’s something that happened at the start of the game instead of at the end, which is what would usually happen if this were to be a cliche.

Perhaps more importantly though, when Shepard was brought back to life, it was clear that it was a difficult process and not a quick, divine intervention sort of scenario. This went a long way toward making it fit better and not making Shepard feel like he was some sort of omnipotent God that death itself couldn’t touch. When Shepard is brought back (which is more than likely) I can’t stress enough how important it is for Bioware to do this right.

Most importantly

The points I’ve made so far are probably pretty minor in comparison to what Bioware REALLY needs to do with Mass Effect 4. See, it’s good that they’re likely taking us back to familiar territory. This comes with a lot of built-in advantages, but one thing that they can’t do is just make it feel like it’s a re-run of what we’ve previously seen.

While Andromeda certainly had its problems, it definitely deserves credit for taking players into a completely new galaxy with different characters and an entirely different plot. By taking us back into the Milky Way with Shepard, I’m worried that it’s not going to feel as new as it should. There’s a really big risk that in doing this, we could get a game that’s stuck in the past and refusing to move on.

If that’s what Bioware delivers, it will be a monumental letdown, probably even more so than Andromeda was for a lot of fans. It would spoil waiting 10+ years to find out what happened after the trilogy ended and the Reapers were destroyed. Ultimately, all we can do is wait and hope that Mass Effect 4 is the game we all want.