This is an IGN opinion piece by Jackie Thomas, who has been playing and replaying Mass Effect for nearly 20 years now.
I'm the sort of person who replays my favorite games whenever there's a big gap between releases. And those favorites usually end up being from the Mass Effect series, whether it's just the first game or a run through the entire original trilogy. So, for me, a Mass Effect 5 that captured the magic of the first three games has been something I've been looking forward to since before it was even announced in 2020. Now, that game will never exist, thanks to EA closing down BioWare. And that f**king sucks.
When Mass Effect came out in 2007, I stood in line to get it on release night, and I played it incessently until I finished absolutely everything in it. I did the same thing when the second and third games came out, except I also played the previous games again ahead of time so everything would be fresh in my mind.
Ever since Mass Effect 3 came out, I've replayed the original games maybe a dozen times. I don't even drastically change the way I play Mass Effect each time I play it. Even after nearly 20 years of experiencing the original game, I still play an Adept every time, because pistols are OP and biotics are cool. And I still ultimately do a paragon playthrough, even when I tell myself that I'm going to be bad and play renegade. Mass Effect has felt like home to me for years, and it became my ultimate comfort game.
But eventually, Mass Effect Andromeda came out, and even though I tried to power through it, I ultimately gave up after a deluge of bugs and weird writing turned me off. I still haven't gone back and finished that game, but I still find myself downloading and playing Mass Effect when I run out of other games to play. Hell, with the amount of times I've played the first game, I can probably navigate most of its empty optional planets with my eyes closed. After today's news, I might just download it and play it again in solidarity.
You'd think that after getting burned on Mass Effect Andromeda, I would've learned my lesson. But in the years since Bioware teased what should have the fifth Mass Effect game, I let myself hope that it would redeem the series once again and land in that annual ME replay rotation.
And I know that after Anthem, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard's weird shift to a straight-up action game, I didn't have much of a reason to believe that Mass Effect 5 would have been this magical return to form. But I think what's hitting me the hardest about BioWare's closure is that we'll never know whether or not Mass Effect 5 would have been good.
The truth is, we didn't know much about the next Mass Effect game at all. Hell, I don't even know if it would have been called Mass Effect 5, but that's just easier to say than 'the next Mass Effect game' over and over again. Ever since it was announced, BioWare had been pretty quiet about the project, only really speaking up to reassure fans that it was still in development. And look how that turned out.
But some of the things that popped up about the game over the years did look pretty cool. Bioware showed off some concept art late last year, showing a Krogan civil war with a properly grizzled Krogan leading a whole squad of the grumpy lizards in a fight. I want to play that game.
Likewise, in one of the only teasers we ever got, the camera zooms through the galaxy, past what looks like the ruins of the Citadel, until it finally shows an older Asari climbing up some snowy ruins. And we don't see her full face, but even from the side, it sure looked like Liara. And, again, I'd love to revisit her character after she fully becomes an Asari Matriarch. But again, that game will never exist.
But there is at least hope that some games that are at least similar to Mass Effect are on the horizon. Just last year, Mass Effect director Casey Hudson's new studio announced Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. I'm a huge Star Wars fan, so when that game comes eventually comes out, I'm sure I'll burrow my way into it like a tick and not come out for a week. But, just like Mass Effect 5, there's not a lot we know about Fate of the Old Republic quite yet. But at least Hudson has come out and said that it won't take until 2030 to release, so maybe we'll get it in 2029.
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is another one that I've had my eye on, and while I haven't really watched the show or read the books (even though both are on my list), I know that universe has a lot of potential for a Mass-Effect-Like. Then, there's Exodus, which is made by Wizards of the Coast of all companies, and has Mass Effect alumni working on it. The art style even makes it look like a Mass Effect game. Luckily, both of these titles seem like they're on track to actually come out next year, but only time will tell there.
As much as I'm earnestly looking forward to all three of those games, they're simply not Mass Effect. The aesthetics are there, the writing should be there, and it looks like the gameplay for Exodus at least is going to be quite good. And Fate of the Old Republic is a Star Wars game, and my love of Star Wars is what led me to play Mass Effect in the first place.
But no matter how good they end up being, I don't know if it's going to be as relaxing as hunting down all of the Keepers in the Citadel, and I probably won't be fighting a giant Reaper skeleton inside of a black hole. I am at least thankful that no matter how controversial Mass Effect 3's ending was, it was at least an ending. I would have loved another chapter and a chance to see whatever Bioware was cooking up with Mass Effect 5. But, at least I'll always have those first three games, and no amount of EA's mismanagement is going to take that away from me.