As you surely know, talks were held recently The Game Awards 2020, an occasion during which not only were elected the most popular titles of the year now about to end, but in which we were also able to get in touch with several new intriguing productions. Between these, one of those that caused the most stir was undoubtedly the a new chapter of Mass Effect, a famous saga Bioware that after a splendid trilogy followed by that Andromeda which turned out not to live up to expectations, it had disappeared a bit from the radar. What is shown can actually be summarized in a short CGI teaser that does not say much about the production itself, but still capable of opening various possibilities on what could be the future of the series. For the occasion we have therefore decided to look to the horizon imagining what the future of the brand could hold for us, which after the various difficulties encountered by Bioware over the years appears more uncertain than one can imagine.
We warn you that what you are about to read will contain SPOILERS relating to both the original trilogy and Mass Effect: Andromeda. If you have yet to enjoy a great videogame epic, we strongly advise you to stop reading here.
Mass Effect scars from the distant past
As we said above, the short video shown does not present clear details on what the final work will be, but it still opens up several question marks about what we might expect. The teaser immediately launches us into the heart of space, showing us in rapid sequence galaxies, planets, debris - destroyed warships - and even an abandoned Galaxy Portal, all flanked by some confusing communications. followed by the iconic "verse" emitted by the Reapers. Finally on a snowy planet, it is possible to see a figure moving on what appears to be a mountain - in reality it is walking on the remains of a Reaper - while in the background lie more of these imposing synthetic-organic creatures defeated during the events of Mass Effect. 3. Another change of shot ed here the figure bends to pick up the remains of the N7 suit, the same one that Shepard himself wore in the clash that decided the future of all living species in the galaxy. As if this wasn't enough, however, she suddenly stands up, revealing not only that she has been accompanied by an unidentified group, but even showing her face, or at least part of it. Lights out, silence in the room, Liara T'Soni appears on the screen.
At this point, it is easy to understand why the audience responded with such enthusiasm to what was shown. Unlike Mass Effect Andromeda, the first trilogy is highly regarded by fans and the idea of being able to return to the stars in the company of the iconic faces that have kept us company for so many hours can only make us extremely happy. , but in fact what could we expect? A proper sequel to Mass Effect 3 comes with a lot of questions, especially when we consider how the adventure ended for our commander Shepard. After spending entire years fighting against Reapers (and several other alien species, some of which are also subjugated by the Reapers themselves) while forming not only one of the best teams in the galaxy, but also one of the most massive galactic fleets ever seen , Shepard and his companions set out for Earth to meet their greatest challenge.
Two armies ready to sacrifice everything to win, countless lives lost and us at the center of everything, called to make the most important decision. Indeed, Mass Effect 3's ending violently split the audience, with a rich slice of the fanbase found not to appreciate the epilogue of the adventure due to a slightly ramshackle narrative plot in some phases and a final decision divided into three "moral options" as important as, in fact, not very diversified. Reapers defeated, Shepard dead and a galaxy to be rebuilt, these were the central nodes that preceded the credits of the production, which, however, was later supported by an "Extended Cut" which introduced new contents to plug the gaps present, enrich the general lore a little and also offer some more decision-making possibilities.
At this point, a question arises spontaneously; how to continue this narrative? There are two possible answers that are bouncing more strongly among social networks; on the one hand, a continuation of the story impersonating a new protagonist who will find himself meeting again all the characters (or at least, those left alive) who were able to help Shepard on his journey, all within a galaxy in turmoil and intent on rising from the ashes after the massive damage done by the Reapers. Recall that these not only destroyed the largest metropolises of every sufficiently evolved race, but also took care of setting entire planets on fire together with the peoples who lived there. On the other hand we have instead the real possibility that this new chapter of the series leads us to re-impersonate the shoes of the same Shepard. In one of the endings of the work, in fact, it was possible to obtain a "secret ending" in which, after the enormous battle against the Reapers, among the rubble it was possible to glimpse Shepard's body, with the silence suddenly broken by one of his breaths , a sign of the fact that our heroic (or not, depending on your choices) protagonist was still alive, although many at the time saw everything as a small easter egg and nothing more.
On the other side of the bell, however, you can find many other theories on how Shepard could have survived, with one of these that would even take the introduction of Mass Effect 2 as a pivotal point. We know that Shepard is once already risen from the grave thanks to the invaluable help of the so-called Mysterious Man, the leader of Cerberus. Well, someone has speculated that in reality, in the course of Mass Effect 2 and 3, the protagonist of the work was never Shepard, but a clone of it created thanks to the infinite funds and incredible technologies possessed by Cerberus. According to these rumors, our true commander is still locked in a glass bubble, intent on healing his wounds and waiting for someone to awaken him from his sleep. In this context it would then be necessary to understand who (or what) could ever pose as a new threat to the eyes of the galaxy; after all, being able to create an even more looming danger out of nothing than the feared Reapers is no small task, but only time will be able to answer this question.
In a galaxy far, far away ...
In all this soup of options, one must obviously not forget about Mass Effect Andromeda, the last chapter of the saga that theoretically should have started a new trilogy to be experienced in a new galaxy - Andromeda, in fact - with a new protagonist and his team. As many will surely know, the game turned out to be a general failure in the public eye, with violent criticism leveled a little against all the elements that made up the production. Mass Effect Andromeda has undoubtedly represented a turning point within the brand, not only as regards the narration, but also for the play sector; many expected the announcement of a real sequel to this "introduction" to the adventures of Ryder. Yes, let's talk about the introduction because, exactly like the original Mass Effect, also in this case, when the credits arrived, we were presented with a long series of questions left open that should have acted as a forerunner for a hypothetical Andromeda 2.
The failure of the work, however, put everything into question, to the point that some narrative DLCs designed to close a few small circles here and there have been sadly canceled - with all due respect to the Quarian Ark still waiting to be found -, and now the future of this new trilogy appears particularly uncertain, although the roads that can be taken to continue the adventure are all still there. The Archon has been defeated, the inhabitants of the Arks have finally found a new home, Ryder is ready to discover all the secrets of the Jaardan (the alien race that once inhabited the Andromeda galaxy) and a new threat appears on the horizon, ready to eliminate all traces of human, salarian, turian and anyone from existence. Again, the possibilities for continuing Ryder's story are incredibly numerous, but an interesting statement deserves to be mentioned that made more than a few users jump. Responding to a user on Twitter, who asked which story arc would be considered for the new Mass Effect, the project director Mike Gamble claimed that more galaxies were deliberately shown in the trailer released at The Game Awards, behind which there is a very specific reason. An undoubtedly intriguing statement, which could indicate links both with the original trilogy and with Andromeda himself, although this would lead to further questions that are very difficult to answer.
After all, how could two such distant stories ever be reconnected, temporally speaking? In fact, we must remember that the events of Andromeda unfold in 2819, several hundred years after the events of Mass Effect 3. Of course, when you have the space and all its mysteries at your disposal, it is possible to gamble with paradoxes, black holes and time travel, but everything appears at least unlikely, to the point that several communities have seen the entire teaser as nothing more than a bait, the attempt to bring historical fans closer to the series by showing some of the most loved personalities among those present in the saga when these, in reality, within the events would only play a marginal role. In short, it is clear that the possibilities behind the work are numerous, to say the least, and all appear as intriguing as they are worrying.
As already written, today's Bioware is no longer the spotless and fearless software house that was able to conquer us with some of the most memorable stories in gaming history. There are many important personalities who have left the shack and the last few years have been as confusing as they have been difficult for the team. That said, hope is still the last to die and in recent days it has been revealed how some ex-members who had the opportunity to work on the original Mass Effect trilogy have returned precisely to be able to take care of this new project. Among the personalities are in particular the narrative designer Dusty Everman, the art director Derek Watts and the designer Brenon Holmes, important names that we hope will contribute to the realization of a production that lives up to expectations for a brand that deserves all the love possible. We, for the moment, can not help but cross our fingers and wait for news about it, which seems to be waiting a long time anyway, given that the game is still in the pre-production phase. We will all meet again in 2022… if we're lucky.
