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Bioware: Mass Effect 4 will reference original trilogy but remain separate

Woorloog

Banned
My best guess is that in the darkest hours of the Reaper War, the Council ensured the continuation of their species and cultures by sending a fleet of ark ships to another Galaxy.

Using the mothership as a base (and a conveniently familiar setting for veteran players), you set out to explore new worlds for permanent resettlement, running afoul of the new species out there.

Framed that way, it is actually pretty interesting.
 
The handing of this seems really botched to me. Stop being so needlessly coy, and tell us what you're doing. So us something other than "We're making this game, but we can't tell you shit about it. So, here's my personal speculation!"

Also, something tells me the story in ME4 won't be any good. BioWare painted themselves into a corner with the way ME3 ended, so if they continue to use the same galaxy setting, they might have to retcon a lot of things...

They are probably going to retcon a lot of things while saying they actually aren't.
 

Sendero

Member
The story will likely start close to the first contact, and then continue with a main character going to a different galaxy to explore, just to get mixed in a large plot that involves a new gran scale menace.

So, the events might be occurring either a bit earlier or around the same time than the original trilogy. IF the later, we would be hearing/reading about Saren and commander Shepard initial exploits between missions.

That would allow cameos without major repercussions.
 
Ill be curious to see how much they stress choice in the game after the first trilogy. If I was them is say there's micro choice events but the major beats are what they are. Keep expectations in check.
 
I'm beginning to think the post-credit scene was hinting about ME4 more then anyone realized. The game could be so far in the future and so far removed that the events of the OT are just legends, "The Shepard" is remembered more like Jesus or King Arthur, part fact, part fiction to various degrees, as are all the events surrounding them. (even more so if its completely removed from the locations of the Ot, as there would be no geological records to base history on) It would make the game a blend of sequel and reboot. It could continue on from what the OT established but not be factually beholden to it.

I do like that galactic arc idea too.

However they do it, the farther removed from the OT's story it is the better. I really wouldn't care if they did a direct reboot and started a whole new canon. So long as they get their shit together and make it worthwhile, that is. Walter's continuing lead doesn't give me optimism though.
 

Savitar

Member
They learned the hard way that if they over wrote peoples choices they were going to take a lot of heat for it.

This is their way of making sure they are more free of said choices every gamer made.
 

Lone Wolf

Member
Right. No better than a sequel in my mind really, i'd rather not have ME3, or it's like events happen. Especially the latter, because knowing things could have been different but weren't, and i had to experience all the crap pisses me off.

Me, i don't need that familiarity beyond the audio-visual design (and perhaps keeping the old species).

In any case, i doubt i will be satisfied with whatever BW comes up with, not after ME3.



Picking a canon ending will piss people off. And handwaving stuff away would piss me even more off. As noted, i oppose the game being a sequel of any sort.
Of all the directions they can go, not doing a sequel will piss off the most people.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Of all the directions they can go, not doing a sequel will piss off the most people.

I don't care what most people think. They're wrong.

EDIT and if... when people realize stuff they did doesn't affect things, it is going to piss people off, i think. No Shepard is going to piss off people too, i reckon.
 

BeauRoger

Unconfirmed Member
Im hoping they stay in the milky way galaxy, i think there is too much established there to just throw it away in regards to the different races, the citadel, etc. I'd not be opposed to it taking place across two galaxies though, and since this is supposedly a new trilogy, maybe one of the games takes place mainly in our, and the others mainly in andromeda or wherever else they decide. Im just hoping we get to play as humans still, with humanity having a big role in the story. Call me boring.
 

Lone Wolf

Member
I don't care what most people think. They're wrong.
Can you explain why you feel this way, or link me to an explanation you already posted?

EDIT and if... when people realize stuff they did doesn't affect things, it is going to piss people off, i think. No Shepard is going to piss off people too, i reckon.

The original endings already negated everything we did. The retconning began with the EC. Everyone is already pissed off.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Hope its not in another galaxy. Not only is that absurdly far to travel but its not like a new galaxy would add variety of locations. What matters is the planets you travel to and those can just be milky way.
 

HK-47

Oh, bitch bitch bitch.
Im hoping they stay in the milky way galaxy, i think there is too much established there to just throw it away in regards to the different races, the citadel, etc. I'd not be opposed to it taking place across two galaxies though, and since this is supposedly a new trilogy, maybe one of the games takes place mainly in our, and the others mainly in andromeda or wherever else they decide. Im just hoping we get to play as humans still, with humanity having a big role in the story. Call me boring.

Less humanity the better. Volus/Hanar team up time.
 

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
"Hey bob, you remember that crazy universe ending shit from a few years ago? That was pretty nuts."

Then they should promptly never bring up the first trilogy again.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Can you explain why you feel this way, or link me to an explanation you already posted?

BioWare wrote themselves into a corner with ME3 ending. A sequel picking canon ruins many people's "canon" games (like mine, i picked refusal, though even it wasn't satisfying). Alternate universe sequel ignores stuff equally as much.
Mass Effect trilogy's point was that you make choices and these have an effect to the whole trilogy. Continuing the series but ignoring this... well, you just threw away a cornerstone of the trilogy. Ignoring that ME3 ending did that already really.

Making a proper sequel, one i'd approve, one that takes account people's choices is impossible, it requires, as EatChildren said, basically unlimited budget and manpower. It would have to be like 3 games in one.

Alternatives:
Hard reboot allows familiar, yet different, without being a sequel.
This "colony ark" concept, continuing a story that "branched" from ME2/3 and set elsewhere, is not bad but it has a lot of issues, issues i doubt BW writers will really address. Perhaps they do, if so, i'd be interested. Of course, it would be guilty of ignoring ME3... but if set in a new galaxy, that would be a moot point.

I just don't have much faith in BW after ME3 ending. Like... zero.
 
I'm wondering...

What if they took the Krogan genophage extinction as canon?

Wasn't there a krogan in the preview?
I don't care what most people think. They're wrong.

EDIT and if... when people realize stuff they did doesn't affect things, it is going to piss people off, i think. No Shepard is going to piss off people too, i reckon.

Only if they haven't been paying attention since they finished ME3. Or blacked out before their Shepard died.

A sequel is the only way to please the most people. I don't think there are that many people that really believe their ending is going to be canon.
 

Lone Wolf

Member
BioWare wrote themselves into a corner with ME3 ending. A sequel picking canon ruins many people's "canon" games (like mine, i picked refusal, though even it wasn't satisfying). Alternate universe sequel ignores stuff equally as much.
Mass Effect trilogy's point was that you make choices and these have an effect to the whole trilogy. Continuing the series but ignoring this... well, you just threw away a cornerstone of the trilogy. Ignoring that ME3 ending did that already really.

Making a proper sequel, one i'd approve, one that takes account people's choices is impossible, it requires, as EatChildren said, basically unlimited budget and manpower. It would have to be like 3 games in one.

Alternatives:
Hard reboot allows familiar, yet different, without being a sequel.
This "colony ark" concept, continuing a story that "branched" from ME2/3 and set elsewhere, is not bad but it has a lot of issues, issues i doubt BW writers will really address. Perhaps they do, if so, i'd be interested. Of course, it would be guilty of ignoring ME3... but if set in a new galaxy, that would be a moot point.

I just don't have much faith in BW after ME3 ending. Like... zero.
I see your point and I agree with most of what you said. I would want a reboot before anything, but I know we will never get that. I will not buy a prequel. I may buy a sequel depending on which direction they go. Thanks for your answer.
 
I think I would prefer a smaller game in scope but more fleshed out so exploring something like the Citadel doesn't feel like four corridors.

Seems now we might get another "The whole galaxy will be destroyed!" scenario only now it isn't even the Mass Effect galaxy.....

:(
This is why ME1 is my favourite in the series. The citadel was actually a citadel i stead of cut off areas.
 

Wiktor

Member
It's a bit schame that I won't see those characters again. I wish it would be set into far future and you could load up your save and go to some sort of library and just read what happened to those people later on.
 

Walshicus

Member
Of course if they'd just handled the ending to ME 3 right they'd not be in this mess. If they wanted to create a universe they could manage over many games, they need to ensure that the variation occurs *within* the overarching plot, not at the ends. The story should end up in the same place.

Reapers destroyed along with all synthetic life, Reapers controlled by Uber Shepherd and Reapers and organics merged are wildly different ends to the story, despite the variation happening in the last minute of the game.

If they'd had variation be whether the Reapers were outright destroyed or just sent away, that could work. The end point is the same - the Reapers are gone.





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Heshinsi

"playing" dumb? unpossible
So basically anything you did in the OT will be worthless? The endings should change the 'verse radically each, even the extended cut ones. EDIT assuming it is a sequel.

Mass Effect 3 already saw to that. Even before the end game, a lot of choices you made in prior games were retconned in the laziest, most illogical manner ever.
 
Would another galaxy have mass relays to allow travel though?

The ark fleet would need a mass relay to get there (not implausible... the Reapers might have sent scouts to other galaxies from their dark space hiding spot but their programming kept them focused on 'preserving' the Milky Way). You could say that, without Reaper meddling, the cultures in the new galaxy evolved 'phase engines' for interstellar travel or some such. When Shepard destroys (sorry, 'ruptures) the relay network on the other end, the ark fleet is stuck until they adopt the phase technology and press into the new frontier.

Point is, if you accept the concept of a new Galaxy, you can easily handwave these things.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Mass Effect 3 already saw to that. Even before the end game, a lot of choices you made in prior games were retconned in the laziest, most illogical manner ever.

I KNOW THAT! But a sequel could be, theoretically, made to take account every frigging thing, including the endings. Aside from being an economic impossibility.
Continuing ignoring things doesn't help any.
 

Newboi

Member
Well, I don't see why they would really need to explain much even if this is a sequel to the original Mass Effect Trilogy, and not set in a different Galaxy all together.

Regardless of the endings, if life continued on, then the Reapers were defeated, and BAM...a few centuries of civilization rebuilding. Didn't the extended endings retcon the destruction of all the Mass Relays (or at least some survived)?

I think the only real thing they would need to explain if they consider the destroy ending cannon, which would mean Shepard did survive. This wouldn't really need much elaborating on as this series could take place far enough in to the future that Shepard's life afterwards doesn't really need to be elaborated on too much (would be great for fans though).

to be honest, I think the destory ending is the only one that makes sense thematically. The Merge/synthesis ending would require a metric ton of explanations to both make sense both thematically when compared to the first trilogy and contextually with this new trilogy. What, everyone is part organic and machine??? The control ending is just too far from the personality of Shepard whether running the good or bad route.
 

popeutlal

Member
I hope they make an exploration game like ME1 and not a shooting game like ME3.

Space exploration games are so rare, they got it right without first one.
 
i'd bet that it's a prequel dealing with the first contact wars and the nods won't be historical in nature, but more wink-y things like pieces of dialogue.

Not if there's Krogan. First Contact War was only between Humans and Turians and was effectively over once the other races realized it was going on.
 
Sound like they're going to have Liara travel through a wormhole, meet up with her younger self, and introduce humanity to the galaxy before a war can break out.
 

Heshinsi

"playing" dumb? unpossible
I hope they make an exploration game like ME1 and not a shooting game like ME3.

Space exploration games are so rare, they got it right without first one.

Considering that Dragon Age: Origins is one of their best selling games, I don't understand why they can't seem to see that their base is made up of RPG lovers. Mass Effect was space exploration RPG, yet by the 3rd game it turned into a gears clone with a better story mode.
 
It could be set at the same time as the original trilogy, just in different bits of the galaxy.

That way you could still have oblique references.

This is what I want. A smaller, character-driven story about you and your crew surviving the events.

Someone get Nathan Fillion to voice the main character please.
 

Woorloog

Banned
Considering that Dragon Age: Origins is one of their best selling games, I don't understand why they can't seem to see that their base is made up of RPG lovers. Mass Effect was space exploration RPG, yet by the 3rd game it turned into a gears clone with a better story mode.

Mass Effect's origins and pre-release versions may have been an RPG, but the first one was a shitty shooter when it came to gameplay, ME2 and 3 were big improvements on that front.
I reckon at some point they just thought that the game would work better as more like a shooter game than as a tactical RPG.
Look at that one old trailer/vidoc, where the game had party member switching and more tactical combat, and then look at later footage, and the retail footage. ME2 and 3 were logical refinements, not 180s on design.
 
Did they ever mention prior to E3 if the game would be set before or after the events? At least now we (I) know that takes place after.
 

Patryn

Member
Mass Effect's origins and pre-release versions may have been an RPG, but the first one was a shitty shooter when it came to gameplay, ME2 and 3 were big improvements on that front.
I reckon at some point they just thought that the game would work better as more like a shooter game than as a tactical RPG.
Look at that one old trailer/vidoc, where the game had party member switching and more tactical combat, and then look at later footage, and the retail footage. ME2 and 3 were logical refinements, not 180s on design.

Jeff Gerstmann has said that during Judges' Week, the Bioware people showing off Dragon Age: Inquisition said to pay attention to it, as it would be the template for all future Bioware games.

Thus, I suspect people can glean some ideas of how Mass Effect: Contact may play by looking at Inquisition.
 

dr_rus

Member
The only way of producing a new ME game(s) with almost zero relation to the original trilogy is to do a prequel or reboot the series.

Prequel is out of the picture it seems.
A side story will have to deal with the same issues Shepard dealt with.
A sequel will have to use one of the outcomes of the original trilogy.
A reboot seems unlikely because that's not a popular idea.
Even setting the sequel in a different galaxy will mean that you have to choose one of three endings of the original trilogy one way or another.

Now since we're talking about a "cool idea" from the same guys who had another "cool idea" for ME3 ending I'm not holding my breath and tend to think that it'll be something along the lines of "all of this happened a hundred years ago and because of that it doesn't matter; everyone just forgot everything; cool, eh?"
 

Woorloog

Banned
Jeff Gerstmann has said that during Judges' Week, the Bioware people showing off Dragon Age: Inquisition said to pay attention to it, as it would be the template for all future Bioware games.

Template, in what way? Gameplay-wise? Story (structure)?

(I don't bother following any Dragon Age stuff so i don't know)

EDIT in any case, i was talking about ME trilogy, not future MEs.
 

Aces&Eights

Member
Enter: String Theory. Not set in the future or the past because they are irrelevant. Alternate timelines and multiverses in which a portal to link between times/places has been discovered and we will be able to gaze into the world of Shepard and Co.
 

BeEatNU

WORLDSTAAAAAAR
Wish they'd just pick/construct a "canon" and use that as a template, but I guess it'll be something like "set in a new galaxy", and fans don't seem to agree with what I'd want. People seem fond of the "ark to a new galaxy" concept so maybe they'll go with that.

This is something I can stand behind. "Ark to a new galaxy"
 

Complistic

Member
I really hope you never see nor hear about any of the characters in the last story. The galaxy is enormous. If I keep running into faces I know from the last game it's going to feel so much smaller.
 
Jeff Gerstmann has said that during Judges' Week, the Bioware people showing off Dragon Age: Inquisition said to pay attention to it, as it would be the template for all future Bioware games.

Thus, I suspect people can glean some ideas of how Mass Effect: Contact may play by looking at Inquisition.
That sounds awful, not the Dragon Age part, but using the same template with all your games. It depends on what they mean exactly, but still.
 

inky

Member
If it is a sequel I wonder what canon they will take. I mean, even if they set it so far into the future that Shepard's story is all but a forgotten legend, there's still the issue of "destroying synthetics" or "everyone is a weird mix of organic and synthetic life now" to deal with. I was thinking of the destroyed relays too, but iirc they retconned that so whatever. Or maybe they just say fuck it and ignore it all, which would be the better option.

Alternate universe or completely different galaxy would be ideal too. They really just need to let you pick different alien races for the playable character and have a more personal story, lots of exploration and open spaces with not ticking clock or end of the galaxy scenarios.

Let's see if they manage that amount of restraint.
 

Patryn

Member
Template, in what way? Gameplay-wise? Story (structure)?

(I don't bother following any Dragon Age stuff so i don't know)

EDIT in any case, i was talking about ME trilogy, not future MEs.

He didn't offer any clarification.

I'm guessing he's talking about the open-world aspect, as well as possibly sidequest structure. Possibly combat?
 
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