Mass Effect: Andromeda News Makes me Nervous

I've mentioned my loving obsession with the space-drama/shooty Mass Effect series so many times that I don't really know if it's worthy of mentioning again.  Like other fans of the series, I try to stay up to date on the latest news related to the fourth game in the series.  Some of this news has been encouraging (the N7 day Shepard good-bye video and teasers from big conferences) but some of it has been anxiety inducing.  The news of several noteworthy members of the BioWare team exiting the company (notably Chris Wrynn and possibly only Dragon Age related--writer David Gaider) seems strange.  I don't really know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, it remains to be seen.

In looking forward to the supposed 2016 holiday release date for Mass Effect  Andromeda, I've been thinking about the series.  My thoughts have encompassed tough topics like the Mass Effect 3 ending and why I still periodically feel infuriated by it, why I never chose to romance Garrus, and more hopes for what the fourth game could bring to the series.  Prepare yourself for a buffet of Mass Effect!  (Please note that one courses on this buffet is spoilers related to the series.  Read with caution if you haven't played any of the games yet!)

One of the featured environments in Andromeda.
Will open world mean bland quest design?  Let's hope not.

I have this tradition where I play through the entire series once a year.  All three games, all DLC, spread out at times when I feel the need to re-visit them.  I recently finished a playthrough of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2.  To keep things somewhat fresh I try to pick paths that I don't usually take--romancing a different character each time (basically impossible in the first game), completing missions in a different order, and looking for small details that I might have missed.  Nothing new in ME1, but I found a fun exchange that I had neglected in ME2.  On Illium in the bar Eternity you can experience several humorous exchanges taking place between the patrons.  One of the tables features a salarian, a turian, and a human gathered around a table on which an Asari is dancing.  If you click once on the table you learn that this multi-species exchange is a sort of bachelor party being thrown for the salarian even though he explains that a breeding contract isn't the same as the human concept of marriage.  In my past playthroughs I gave it a click, got a chuckle, and then moved on to whatever my next objective was.  It turns out I was too hasty with my clicking!  If you continue to click on the party the conversation expands--the salarian initially tries to explain that there's nothing attractive about the dancer but as you keep clicking the conversation continues and eventually they all agree that the Asari are attractive because they have features that appeal to all the major races--weird head appendages, flexibility (which seems important to turians), and nice skin.  It's a funny moment that I hadn't caught in any of my prior 8-10 playthroughs.

My ME2 playthrough was slightly botched because of my strategy to do all the DLC before I finished the final mission.  I hoped to acquire Legion earlier in the game so that I could use him in some of the Geth heavy DLC (namely Overlord).  I completely forgot that if you acquire the reaper IFF early and then wait too long to complete the final mission that some of your non-essential crew members will perish on the Collector base.  This isn't a big deal for ME2 but could effect some of the side exchanges in ME3.  Kelly Chambers, Rupert--the cook/janitor, and Gabby Daniels were all lost.  The casual exchanges between Ken Donelley and Gabby Daniels in engineering gave me a reason to visit the bowels of the Normandy!  Maybe this little screw-up will make my next ME3 playthrough slightly different?

After playing ME2, particularly the Arrival DLC, I started to feel irritated about the ME3 ending.  The most frustrating part of the ME3 ending wasn't the end of Shepard, it wasn't the obnoxious "star kid", it was the fact that it clearly contradicted lore established in the series.  Arrival ended the debate about whether mass relays could be destroyed and clearly stated that the energy released from the destruction would result in the elimination of life in an entire galaxy.  In both the pre and post-ME3 endings (the red, green, blue ones that resulted in fan outcry and the 2.0 ending) the mass relays appear to be destroyed.  The implications for this event seem so powerful and leave unanswered questions--1.) If the relays were destroyed, how will life continue in the galaxy?  2.) Without the relays travel between galaxies is possible but would be extremely time consuming.  Will travel to new systems even be possible?

It's these lore-based implications that make me wonder about the direction that the fourth game will take.  One interesting tidbit from ME2 that is easily overlooked happens in a conversation in the aforementioned bar on Illium with matriarch Atheta.  As you question her about her motivations for working as a bartender rather than as a trusted advisor she comments that one of the issues she was trying to promote was building more mass relays.  The possibility of making more relays isn't something that is directly addressed in the lore, but it is highly implicated that they would be almost impossible to create without access to reaper technology.  Exploration has been promoted as a big theme in Andromeda and I'm curious about how the lack of mass relays is going to play out (or if it's something that will be completely ignored).  This is a distinctly nerdy, lore-based hope that I want addressed.

Creating a new character who is distinctly NOT Commander Shepard is going to be the true challenge.  The developers have plainly stated that none of the characters from the previous games will be returning to Andromeda.  It's pretty clear that they're making a complete break from the old story.  I'm looking forward to meeting the new characters (BioWare creates great characters) but have always enjoyed references to the old squadmates and important characters.

I'm going to keep watching and hoping that the Andromeda continues the Mass Effect traditions that I, and many others, have grown to love.