Does BioWare Need to Choose a "Canon" Ending to Create the Next Mass Effect?
For the record, I am Mass Effect freak. Ask the shelf of memorabilia in my room, or the signed copies of games I keep squirreled away as prized possessions! And yes, the other side of the room is covered in Mass Effect lithographs.
I’m super excited for the Legendary Edition next spring, it’s something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. It’ll be interesting to see what all changes. To be clear, I don’t think folks should be expecting huge gameplay changes – the resources needed to, say, convert the first game to use Mass Effect 3’s combat would really be gigantic in scope.
But, who knows. We don’t know the full story on the development that’s gone into the Legendary Edition, so we’ll find out next year!
Hot on the heels of that news was the surprise announcement of new Mass Effect games in the future…games that may well touch on the Andromeda galaxy and bring back the story of the Milky Way.
Fascinating…
As much of a fanatic as I am for Mass Effect, I’m a bit nervous to continue the story of Shepard. I’m nervous to open the can of worms that was the infamous ending to Mass Effect 3, and I’m more than happy to let stories be done. Endless sequels can sour stories as much as they can bring joy.
That said, I will be watching with bated breath to see what comes next, and in the meantime, I’ll be thinking about what that story may well look like. A common concern making the rounds on forums and social media is the logistics for how the story of Shepard may (or may not, who knows what is really going on) continue. The trilogy’s end branches quiet significantly, to the point where it may not be feasible to continue the story with all of the different possible combinations. This is where it’s commonly thought that if BioWare were to continue the story, they may have to pick at least some form of a “canon” ending. Usually, when folks are talking about this, they’re referring to the final choice in the third game that dramatically alters the galaxy as we know it, creating vastly different futures that are in many ways incompatible with each other…and there’s only one where Shepard can survive.
So, if they’re continuing the story of the Commander, do they have to pick one of these major choices, discard the rest, and develop from there? There is, I believe, a lot of mixed feelings on doing so. “Canon” choices go against the ethos of the trilogy, and generally BioWare steers clear of this practice in their games, which does sometimes cause them to contort themselves into some odd narrative pretzels (the fact that Lilliana can die prior to Dragon Age Inquisition, for example).
However, I think that the studio does have a logical “out” they can use to not necessarily say that developing a new game with Shepard moving forward is discarding the rest of the player’s choices as “not canon.” And they’ve already used it before!
Recall: Shepard can die at the end of the second game.
It’s not exactly easy to do, considering you have to ignore huge swaths of content to make it happen. But it is possible for you to get an ending to Mass Effect 2 where Shepard is dead and a completely different ending plays. These saves are not importable to Mass Effect 3, you can’t experience NG+, and the game ends there.
Instead of saying that the “Shepard Dies” ending of the second game isn’t canon, BioWare stated that the story of Shepard, in those instances, doesn’t continue. In which case, the third game picks up on OTHER choices, in timelines where Shepard did survive. All of it is canon – some Shepards just don’t appear in the next game! Or, I guess it maybe accurate to say they don’t get a third game, ha….
The same could be said here. The other choices in 3 that result in Shepard’s demise are still canon, the story just stops there. For the Shepards that do survive, the story continues.
I grant you that the scale of the two uses of this “out” are different. Shepard dying in the second game is very, very uncommon, whereas everyone will be able to choose one of those major endings to the trilogy, and not everyone who chooses the path where Shepard can survive will actually have them survive. How satisfying this may be for players is a matter of debate. But it is a logical approach the situation, and a viable path to creating conditions that makes development of future games with the Commander at least somewhat possible.
So, what do you think? Would this way of advertising a third game satisfy you? Is there something I’m missing? Let me know in the comments!