In one respect, BioWare’s game took a unique and appealing approach, and the latest installment in the franchise should follow suit.

Romance has been an important element of the Mass Effect franchise, and has been the inspiration for many romantic subplots in other AAA RPGs. Shepard can get involved with several characters, and while the first two episodes showed no interest in major NPCs, Mass Effect 3 has some major exceptions. Tali and Garrus can get together (the former can be seduced by a male protagonist, the latter by a female; if that doesn’t happen, they fall in love), but another couple can form before our eyes, as Joker and EDI can find each other, but only if Shepard suggests it.

It’s a good concept, as NPCs can form relationships with each other based on their choices, but Mass Effect 3’s concept is pretty bare and rudimentary. This should be fleshed out in Mass Effect 4 so that it’s not just superficial, so that it’s actually a meaningful, valuable addition to the game’s narrative. And it shouldn’t just be the protagonist who gets these moments of calm and hope, because the franchise has always been about uncertainty and brutality.

In the new Mass Effect, players should be given the opportunity to affect the lives of the rest of the deck. Perhaps an example could be taken from Larian Studios’ excellent Baldur’s Gate III, where you can bring your team members together. You could take this idea further: you could also have love triangles or conflicts based on our choices. But it would be hard to work out all the possible relationships, or maybe it would be overkill because BioWare would have to create so many different storylines and scenarios. But with the main characters, it could be done.

A lot could depend on Mass Effect 4, maybe even the future of BioWare, since Mass Effect Andromeda didn’t live up to its potential and the studio that developed the game in Montreal was closed because of it…

Source: GameRant