Are People Ready for More Mass Effect?
Mass Effect was one of, if not the best new franchises to appear in the last generation. Bioware crafted a universe (literally) that enthralled everybody, a universe with a broad range of mostly fleshed-out characters that made the whole franchise feel alive. Between Mass Effect 1 and 2, it seemed Bioware could do no wrong. Praise was thrown at both games, by critics and the general public alike, and the fanbase became intensely passionate over the franchise. And then Mass Effect 3 hit.
Critical and commercial success was enjoyed by Mass Effect 3 but the ending and much stronger focus on action led to the game feeling unfamiliar to a fair size of the fanbase. In particular, the ending was a potent factor in some of the backlash. Its closed-off nature left people feeling that their decisions made throughout the franchise resulted in a very linear ending, unmarked by their choices. The backlash was so fierce that it forced Bioware to release a new ending that only slightly made amends. Either way, Mass Effect 3 was the end of the franchise…or least that’s how it was sold.
Much like the film industry, the videogame world loves a profitable franchise, and Mass Effect is a money maker. The franchise is bound to return, but would that be a good thing? Are people willing to welcome more Mass Effect? The game’s universe and lore holds huge amounts of potential for new entries in the franchise, but does that necessarily mean they have to tap into that potential? The answer to that question is, of course, entirely subjective.
Too much of a good thing is often a theme in the videogame industry. Mass Effect 3 was the most complete entry in the franchise on a technical level, but its nosedive into third-person cover-based action was a worry. The pattern would suggest that new entries in the franchise would be further departures from Mass Effect‘s RPG roots; this could leave a bitter taste in the mouth of many fans as well as condemning it to an already saturated market.
There’s a curious interest in seeing how people would react to a new Mass Effect title if Bioware was to announce a new entry due for release on PS4/Xbox One/PC. After the fallout from Mass Effect 3‘s ending, one has to wonder whether the interest would still be there from the core fanbase.