As an archer once said, “Don’t give me hope.” For many in the Mass Effect community, that phrase has been their lifeblood over the last several years. In fact, you could argue that this has been their cry since the end of the original trilogy that Bioware was made famous by. Ever since then, the franchise has either been misused or non-existent. According to the developer, things are changing, and there have been several teases about the fifth game that would seem to indicate that things will be better this time around, especially because of the “leaders” who are in charge of the project.
This latest tease came at the end of the year from Michael Gamble, who worked on the original trilogy and is one of the project leaders at Bioware. He replied to a fan on Twitter about the length of time between now and the last entry in the series, and Gamble had a rather hopeful message in response:
Sure enough, many fans were able to take heart in that message, but whether they should’ve or not is up for debate. For example, the 4th game in the franchise also had “leaders” and veterans of the original trilogy, which was half the point of continuing the franchise in the first place. You know, outside of EA trying to make money off of it once more.
The problem is that just because you have “veterans” of the original games and the best-received ones doesn’t mean a game will be great. When the Mass Effect trilogy ended in controversial fashion, the OG heads of Bioware left the company, and changes to the story had to be added via an update to try to “make things better” for fans.
Then, when the 4th entry came out, it was a buggy mess with an incredibly basic story that focused more on the “love scenes” than it did for the other elements that helped make the franchise stand out in the first place.
Plus, let’s not forget that it was “veterans” who helped make Bioware’s latest title in its other RPG franchise, and its reception hasn’t been good either by fans or in sales. That’s not to say that the team can’t turn it around, but it’ll be a serious uphill climb. Bioware has gone through massive layoffs, shifts in styles, and having to deal with live-service nonsense from EA.
So while there is hope to be had, don’t cling to it too tightly, okay?
