9. A Fresh Start For Gameplay
Mass Effect 1-3 were all shooter RPGs, with different ratios of shooter to RPG. While it was nice to see Bioware find the sweet spot between the two in ME3, after five years, it was starting to get a little old. Starting up a new saga in ME4 means that Bioware can experiment with new gameplay ideas without worrying about backlash from the fans. After the critical and financial success of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, it might be a good idea for the next Mass Effect to be a turn based strategy (TBS) game. TBS, a once thriving genre in the early days of PC gaming, is pretty much dead outside of a few new western games and Japanese strategy RPGs. If Bioware ever decided to go with another combat heavy game, a TBS can easily give players control of squads of soldiers with the vast array of tech, biotic, and weapon abilities without worrying about combat pacing or limited hot keys.