While there are likely more than a couple of years yet until fans get their hands on the continuation of the Mass Effect saga, already those interested in what's happened to the galaxy since the fall of the Reapers have been hard at work trying to glean any details they can from the images and trailer released for Mass Effect 4. It seems like whatever direction BioWare chooses to go in for the next Mass Effect game, some big changes will be made.
Of course, there will have been some huge events in the lore of the Milky Way since the story of Mass Effect 3, as no matter which ending a player chose, the galaxy around them looks very different. Beyond the lore changes, though, and BioWare potentially having to canonize one of the endings of Mass Effect 3, there should be some other alterations that come with the addition of Mass Effect 4 to the franchise, namely to do with the traditional gameplay the original titles are known for.
What Shouldn't Change About Mass Effect
Before getting into how Mass Effect should change in its future, it is important to highlight the many reasons why fans love the series. The first and foremost reason for a lot of Mass Effect players is the cast of characters that act as Shepard's squad mates and crew members of the Normandy. From the fan-favorite Garrus to even those who join right at the end like James Vega, Mass Effect fans each gravitate towards their own dearest character, either choosing them as a romance option or just keeping them at their back on every mission.
Not only do the side characters shine through their own moments in Mass Effect, but fans also have a clear fondness for the series' protagonist. Considering Commander Shepard can be both male and female, with their dialogue chosen by the player, the fact that they still manage to stand out to many shows how much fans appreciate BioWare's creation. Moreover, some hope for Commander Shepard to make a return in Mass Effect 4, something that is unlikely but still shows that the fan base doesn't want to depart from a customizable character.
Besides the series' characters, another of Mass Effect's strengths is the cinematic nature of its story. Each Mass Effect game is full of blockbuster moments, from the showdown against Saren in the first game to the fight between the Reaper and the Thresher Maw in Mass Effect 3. The series is full of missions that give the player the sense that they are part of a sci-fi epic. There's also the famed suicide mission in Mass Effect 2, which manages to combine plenty of cinematic moments with giving players the ultimate difficult choice as their decisions will ensure whether their squad mates live or die. Even over a decade after the release of Mass Effect 2, players are still talking about the success of the suicide mission, showing the lasting effects of some of the series' best cinematic moments.
Alongside Mass Effect's characters and cinematic moments, a lot of fans often find themselves able to dive for hours into the lore BioWare has crafted around its sci-fi RPG series. BioWare crafted a living, breathing universe for its Mass Effect series, giving fans plenty of history, alien species, and more to look over after they've completed the games. Some fans even believed that BioWare's next Mass Effect title would focus on another big event in the lore, such as the First Contact War, rather than being centered on the continuation of the plot of the original trilogy. A lot of these theories were debunked following the appearance of Liara in Mass Effect 4's trailer, but they show how much content there is in the universe even outside the games.
Why Mass Effect 4 Should Change Up the Gameplay
Despite all the positives of the Mass Effect series, it would not be enough for the next game in the franchise just to be a repeat of the first three or Andromeda. There are some key elements that BioWare should work to improve if the new game is to really build on the example set by its predecessors, and one of the things that needs changing most is the gameplay loop in Mass Effect. As they stand, the Mass Effect games offer cover-to-cover shooting that is enough to remain entertaining in between story beats. However, with it being over five years since the last Mass Effect game dropped, there's a lot that could be changed.
A lot of the shooting in Mass Effect rewards the player for going straight into the action, blasting apart their enemies with guns, biotics, and tech abilities. This pretty much leaves stealth out of the equation, something that seems strange when remembering that a few of the classes in Mass Effect focus on quieter approaches. To give fans more gameplay options, then, a new stealth system could be introduced in Mass Effect 4, allowing players to take on a different approach before they enter combat, even giving them the option to take out each enemy in a room before they're spotted.
This could still allow for the gung-ho builds a lot of Mass Effect players go for, combining heavy weapons with either strong tech or biotic abilities, but would mean that the players who enjoy a different style of gameplay would have more options. Mass Effect 4 could also allow for some more open areas for combat, ditching the narrow corridors that pop up so often in the original trilogy. The environment could also play a bigger role in Mass Effect's gameplay, allowing players to potentially hack the lights in a room to go in stealthily or shoot out windows on a ship. Moreover, it could be interesting to see how far Mass Effect can push its Biotic and Tech classes, separating them further from the traditional soldier role and potentially allowing for a protagonist that avoids the usual weapons and instead takes out enemies with their telekinetic powers or through hacking.
There are plenty of ways that Mass Effect 4 looks to be shaking up the formula, especially where the games' characters and lore are concerned. But, even if players might not necessarily buy a Mass Effect game for its excellent gameplay loop, this shouldn't stop BioWare from improving on what could be seen as a tired formula by the time Mass Effect 4 eventually rolls around.
Mass Effect 4 is in development.