The Mass Effect series is as expansive as it is beloved, spanning two whole galaxies and a range of core games, spin-offs, comics, animated films, and books. While fans may have thought Mass Effect: Andromeda's poor reception could have spelled the end for the series, BioWare reignited hopes for Mass Effect's continuation on N7 day 2020 with the announcement that a new as-yet-untitled game was in development. Mass Effect 4 will be the latest installment and has the potential to take things in an entirely new direction. With Mass Effect: Andromeda's controversies and Anthem 2.0's cancellation, this could be an interesting few years for the BioWare series.
While Mass Effect 4's story, protagonist, setting, and even its title are still yet to be confirmed, this hasn't stopped fans from speculating on everything from returning characters and potential powers to available romance options. However, it's the state of the galaxy (or galaxies) in Mass Effect 4 and how it will handle interspecies relations that raise some of the biggest questions. Depending on when and where it takes place, Mass Effect 4 may have to contend with First Contact all over again as the various worlds deal with the migration across galaxies and the possible destruction of the Mass Relay network.
Mass Effect 4's Potential Setting
It's not clear what the main focus of Mass Effect 4 will be yet, but from glimpses in trailers and details revealed by the developers, fans can start to piece together enough clues to begin building a picture. As Liara featured prominently in an early look at the game, it seems as if BioWare is hinting at an original trilogy focus rather than a Mass Effect: Andromeda one. This makes sense, as the original Mass Effect trilogy was a critical and commercial success, and despite a slightly rocky ending, the games became firm fan favorites.
However, it seems like BioWare isn't ready to let go of the fourth installment just yet, and other visual links to Mass Effect: Andromeda have appeared in Mass Effect 4's marketing material - like the silhouette of a possible angaran in an image, as well as the galaxy itself making an appearance. With this in mind, it looks like BioWare wants to combine the four previous games in some way and feature elements from all of them in Mass Effect 4, undoubtedly leading to some very interesting alien interactions.
There's also the question of just what state players are finding the Milky Way galaxy in during Mass Effect 4. There were several infamous choices that players could make at the end of Mass Effect 3, and if the game involves the Milky Way it will need to make one of them canon. After N7 day last year, it seemed like BioWare was presenting the Destroy ending as the canon option, meaning that all synthetic life and the vital Mass Relay network were destroyed along with the Reapers. This will of course have huge ramifications for the galaxy as a whole and will impact the story Mass Effect 4 will be able to tell.
Focusing On First Contact
First Contact between humans and the first alien species they encountered hardly went smoothly prior to the events of Mass Effect and led to a human-turian war. Interspecies relations in Mass Effect: Andromeda were hardly any better, with the kett kidnapping and assimilating angarans and the Roekaar attacking any aliens they encountered. During the Mass Effect trilogy, the various alien races may have found an uneasy peace, but that didn't mean they were entirely copacetic either. Mass Effect has a history of antagonistic and turbulent interspecies interactions, and Mass Effect 4 is likely to be no different.
An interesting element of Mass Effect 4's plot, if the Destroy ending is made canon, will be how long the different species are separated by the destroyed Mass Relay network. As some glimpses of the upcoming Mass Effect 4 hint at Mass Relays being rebuilt, species will inevitably come into contact with each other once again, meaning First Contact will have to be revisited. However, it's also not that straightforward, as there were plenty of planets where different species already lived together, in addition to their much more homogenized homeworlds like Palaven and Thessia.
This could be further complicated by aliens like the asari and the krogans whose lifespans significantly outlast those of species like humans and salarians, and who could be among the only ones to remember the galaxy's heyday. While Liara seems to be a feature of Mass Effect 4, this doesn't rule out a significant time jump between titles, as asari can live for centuries, and she was still fairly young during the events of the original trilogy.
New Aliens To Introduce
The hint of an angaran presence in Mass Effect 4 might not be the only thing from Mass Effect: Andromeda to cross over into the new game. The post-credit scene implies that the kett threat is far from over, and both of these species could make their way across to the Milky Way in Mass Effect 4. While the angarans are familiar with some Milky Way species, they never had the chance to meet drells or quarians thanks to their missing ark, not to mention the plethora of other aliens that didn't make the trip to Andromeda. However, because of the poor reception of Mass Effect: Andromeda, BioWare may choose to leave behind a lot of this game's elements in favor of fresher ones.
One of the key criticisms of Mass Effect: Andromeda was the lack of new aliens. Only two new sentient species were introduced, which was a poor offering compared to the diverse array in the original Mass Effect trilogy. Bringing together established species – potentially from all four previous games – and dealing with rekindled alliances and antagonisms as well as first meetings seems like a tall order. Adding another entirely new (or several new) species might make the game feel a little too busy, but it could also serve to set up some interesting new villains and interspecies dynamics.
Mass Effect 4 is in development.