10 Ways Bioware Can Still Save Mass Effect

8. Wipe The Slate Clean And Focus On What Matters

Personally, I never minded Mass Effect Andromeda - overall it had solid combat and serviceable crew interactions, with animations that only got better over time.

However, it was not a focused game by any means. You were 'the Pathfinder', journeying to 'make a home for humanity', but how you did that was a bizarre mix of open-world exploration, 'bandit camp'-clearing, puzzle-solving and switch-flicking.

Ultimately, despite being an epic sci-fi tale, Mass Effect is a human story, delving into the notion of proving humanity's 'worth' to an entire galaxy predisposed to think of us as the underdog. It's a phenomenal idea - uniting all colours and creeds under one banner in a way our own global society can't seem to get down.

Andromeda had elements of this, but it was far too weighted in the direction of "We're humanity, we need a place to stay... we're going to terraform this planet and stay here because reasons", rather than any of the actual conversations and interactions that would come from this.

Whatever angle Bioware take with Mass Effect going forward, it needs to - and this is a loaded proposition - "feel like Mass Effect".

I'll get into the combat focus later, but purely on a script/writing level, the openings of ME1 and 2 especially were so great at letting you make key decisions in regards to world outlook, it's why we fell in love with the series overall.