How Bioware Can SAVE Mass Effect On Next-Gen Consoles
3. Ditch Shepard And Forge A New Path
Mass Effect Andromeda got a LOT wrong, but it nailed a great way to branch off from the original games, whilst only mentioning them every now and then.
The Andromeda Initiative - spurred on by a "mysterious benefactor" believing Shepard's mention of the Reaper invasion, thereby creating a "plan B" of travelling 600 years into a new galaxy - allowed for the perfect amount of old-meets-new.
... In theory.
In execution, Andromeda couldn't satisfy either side. We never found out who the mysterious third party was because the writers likely hadn't decided yet, and the excitement in talking to Garrus' father Castis overshadowed every new character, as they were all so poorly written.
Going forward, Mass Effect needs to commit to a wholly new story and setting. Like Bioware did with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic back in 2003, set your game plenty of time before or after the defining events of that canon (in Star Wars' case, it was A New Hope and a few thousand years), then explore everything afresh.
If we're delving into the past, tap into the mentalities that resulted in the First Contact War between the humans and the Turians. If it's the future, what state is Earth and the Citadel's races in, after a huge amount of time since the Reaper invasion? Are humans scattered amongst the stars, as Earth's natural resources were totally wiped out?
Building a new Earth, rediscovering cultures, societal issues and charting a course through dialogue, one memorable character at a time would be supreme Bioware fodder.
Anything that references the older games should never be the focal point. We're confidently moving on from what went before, and save for the occasional fun cameo or text log, everything needs to stand on its own.
Mass Effect has millions more stories to tell, across a huge bevy of races and mentalities. With a new dev team revitalised from the pop culture energy of an HD trilogy remake, they only need to pick one.