1. Meaningless Player Choices
BiowareThe biggest criticism that Mass Effect 3 faced was its ending, which boiled three games' worth of stressful choices down to three dry-and-cut options that left fans bitter. It's testament to how much players value the choice aspect of the Mass Effect series, when the entire third game, which was otherwise pretty incredible, got completely tainted in their minds by its poor ending. Smoke and mirrors only go so far in disguising choices as anything but meaningless and superfluous, and players have become adept at recognising when their decisions are actually having any impact on the game at large. In particular, many of Mass Effect 1's choices were rendered ultimately pointless by the third game. For example, one of the more memorable decisions is whether to save or kill the Rachni Queen. In Mass Effect 3, if you chose to save her then she's taken by the Reapers to indoctrinate her young. If you killed her, then they'll just create an artificial queen that fulfils the exact same role. What was a key moral choice in the first game ultimately led to a purely superficial conclusion. As one of the key things that drew players to the series in the first place, Mass Effect 4 will need to see Bioware step their game up when it comes to meaningful player choices. They've got a lot to prove after Mass Effect 3's disastrous finale, but we're confident that the Bioware team has the potential to prove themselves as the kings of AAA RPG releases once again.
What do you dread seeing in Mass Effect 4? Is there anything significant that you'd change from the original trilogy? Let us know in the comments below!