Adam Jensen said:
ravenshrike said:
Actually, that's possibly the ONE thing I'm not bothered with concerning ME4. Even if the ending of ME3 hadn't been tri-colored frosting I wouldn't have wanted a sequel on a scale spanning a galaxy to be close enough in time or space to be a simple retread. By placing it in a new galaxy it allows them to change the nature of the enemy and politics and technology encountered. Immediately following ME3, what could one possibly encounter in the Milky Way that wouldn't have turned the ME series into CoD plot retread wise? The only way to have a successful plot set in the milky way that wouldn't be a retread would be to set it far enough in the future that the current species had split into multiple different species and there was some sort of extragalactic threat invading. Instead, they make the Milky way the invaders which is a rather interesting twist in a video game. Of course, all that's going to be wasted since Bioware no longer has the legs to do something like that justice, but still.
Really? I hope you don't have any aspirations of being a writer. Do you have any idea how enormous the galaxy is? And the plot could be about anything. A lot of fans would like a plot that's more personal, smaller, instead of galaxy saving usual crap. Why couldn't they make a crime drama set in Mass Effect universe? How about an RPG where you can play either as a criminal or Spectre that has to stop him. And depending on who you are, you end up with a different crew and completely different missions and outcomes. Possibilities are endless, and they opted for the same old "you're the chosen one" crap. For fuck sake, give us something new and exciting for a change. Not Dragon Age Inquisition set in Mass Effect universe that isn't even set in the right galaxy.
After creating that universe, they could have opted to make every other Mass Effect basically Grand Theft Auto in space if they wanted to. Hell, they could have made a Sims game set in ME universe or SimCity or anything else. They have an entire universe to play with and instead they chose to abandon it and start all over. It's bullshit.
Completely agree. Sci Fi Writes Have No Sense Of Scale, I suppose. Mass Effect is a great universe to explore the day-to-day life. There are ton of opportunities: A Elite: Dangerous style game, crime drama as you said, Mercenary life, the aftermath of the Reaper War...
However, let me present a counterpoint to both our arguments
The Mass Effect Universe has been tainted by the ending. Most people just don't want to explore Synthesis and Control, because they're near literal fairytale endings (How lovely from a company which prizes itself in complex stories and worlds) - In Synthesis it's stated that most conflict ends because everyone's the same (Organic + Machine) so they understand each other (what a deeply racist message we've got here. There can only be peace between the same race). In Control, you pretty much got Fairy Godmother/father watching over and making sure you're safe, or Space Robot!Stalin ruling over you with an Iron Fist made of Reapers.
The original trilogy made one crass mistake (Besides that piece of shit ending) - it decided it wanted to be Space Opera right at the end, so every ending besides "Destroy" is a corny-ass EPIC! tale where the life in the Galaxy is changed forever and ever. Meaning the Mass Effect Universe we want to see explored is gone, as good as dead, because everything not Destroy changes it forever.
Which brings me to the counter-counterpoint. Why make a new Mass Effect game at all? Why not simply create a new IP? Or better yet, if you want so hard to cash in that sweet Mass Effect fan dosh, make a small-budgeted Choose Your Own Adventure visual novel that overrides the end of Mass Effect 3 and replaces it entirely. Stupid as all hell? Sure, but not as stupid as what we have now. Bioware wants to distance itself as much as possible from the trilogy, but there's no distance in the literal universe where you can separate complete genetic rewrite of every living being in the universe or Space Big Brother from your world. How the hell will they handle that short of making Destroy 100% canon - fucking with us even more than they already have by reducing the already stupid A, B, C choice to A, Eat Shit, Eat Shit Harder - and if you're doing that, why even go to another galaxy? Why not use the one you already have?
I really want this game to be good, and I really want to finally take the foul taste of ME3's last ten minutes out of my mouth.
I'm still somewhat hopeful, because it looks like the worst case scenario is a DA:I, good but not great, but this stinks of kneejerk reaction. And they still managed to fuck it up, because a proper kneejerk would be doing what most fans asked you and fix your goddamned ending