Mass Effect 5: 10 Perfect Ways Bioware Can Save The Franchise

2. Return To The Milky Way

As I noted in my "How Bioware Should Have Made Mass Effect Andromeda" piece, the only way to move forward from a catastrophic event like the close of Mass Effect 3 is to have the confidence to tackle it head on. I posited that we'd get multiple characters that knew of Shepard's actions who could discuss them accordingly, allowing for the player to have this quasi fourth wall-breaking discussion with the writers, where your squadmates would chime in with their opinion on the 'rumours' of the synthetic ending or meeting the space child.

This of course means picking an ending from the three and running with it, but this could be accomplished through a menu option or a series of recap videos for newcomers - either way, the aftermath of those decisions is interesting enough to make up for any lack of knowledge on the part of the player.

Point being, travelling to the Andromeda galaxy didn't actually achieve anything, or provide a worthwhile purpose other than to mentally 'distance' players from the events of Shepard. Every major action in the plot could've happened back home, and it's here where the franchise should belong - especially considering the contrived way Bioware wrote the reason why all the Milky Way races were still around.

Speaking of aliens...