Boss Rush Banter: Does The Next Mass Effect Need Commander Shepard?

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t completed the original trilogy of Mass Effect, this banter will contain many spoilers on the endings and lore. If you’ve been living under a rock that is.

As BioWare works studiously on their next title Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, they also made an announcement with an accompanying teaser trailer that the next Mass Effect title is also in development. BioWare I’m sure is enjoying teasing and toying with the fan base over the conspiracies surrounding the story and narrative of the next title. What we saw in the teaser trailer, among other things, was Liara T’soni, a fan favorite in the series, picking up a piece of armor that is very likely Commander Shepards, the main protagonist from the original trilogy.

Source: Mass Effect YouTube

There were also news stories that hinted at a possible return of Commander Shepard through a BioWare store description, which was promptly taken down and replaced due to an “error”. This got fans foaming at the mouth that we will have Shepard return in the next Mass Effect entry!

But he/she is dead. Died at the end of the third entry (and the second entry, when you think about it…). Why can’t Mass Effect fans let it go?

BioWare attempted to go into bold, uncharted territory with a whole new cast of characters, a new protagonist, a new threat, and even a whole new galaxy with Mass Effect: Andromeda. While the game wasn’t as bad as what most people thought (don’t @ me please) despite its development troubles, it still stuck poorly with fans of the series wanting more from their old friends. More Garrus. More Liara. More Tali.

The franchise that is Mass Effect is ripe with story content, lore, and potential. The developers and writers at BioWare have crafted a universe filled with not only a multitude of alien races, but also cultures, politics, conflicts, history, and belief systems that we as fans have barely even scratched the surface of. That is unless you don’t enjoy reading a multitude of codex entries in the games, or consume Mass Effect graphic novels, books, comics, and even an animated film Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.

My question is, why can’t we just let Commander Shepard die? Why can’t we move on and explore the rest of the universe with new friends and new adventures? Better yet, why can’t we explore past events in the series, like the First Contact War, which pit the humans at war with the Turian race? How about the Rachni Wars, which pit the Salarians and Turians against an unstoppable rachni army, only to use the Krogan as weapons in their war and promptly sterilize their entire race? I would love to explore more of the Asari’s discovery of the Citadel, and how they revolutionized the galactic government we know in the original trilogy.

There is so much story and lore in this universe that begs to be explored, and for some reason fans are stuck on one small fraction of that universe. I’m sure that BioWare is listening to its fan base and giving them what they want, which all signs seem to point in this direction with the teases we’ve gotten.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the original Mass Effect trilogy is one of the greatest series of titles in video game history, and I have played them all numerous times. However, as a fan of the series, I want more. I want to know what else is out there, and I want to see it from all different angles. I can appreciate what Dragon Age: Inquisition did with being able to choose a race as your protagonist. You played the game from their eyes, which opened up your minds to so much more lore, thought processes and perspectives than just playing as one central character like in the second title. We almost got this with Mass Effect: Andromeda, but it didn’t quite stick the landing (I’m almost done with these space puns, promise). It pains me to see the writers and creators of the Mass Effect universe craft so much that is still to this day left unexplored.

What’s your take, do you think we need Commander Shepard in the next one, or are you hoping for something new? Sound off in the comments, or head on over to our Discord at the link here, or use the QR code at the bottom!