It will likely be quite some time before audiences see hide or hair ofMass Effect 4, the much-anticipated follow-up to the originalMass Effecttrilogy and the less-belovedMass Effect Andromeda. Despite BioWare’s stumbling over the past few years, with its biggest releases garnering mixed receptions at best, there’s generally a sense of cautious optimism swirling aboutMass Effect 4, whose sci-fi premise and ostensible return to the series' roots shows promise.
At the same time, virtually nothing is known about the upcoming project, with fans having little more than a brief teaser trailer from 2020 to whet their appetites. This has led to a great deal of speculation, which has far outweighed anything that BioWare or EA themselves have announced aboutMass Effect 4, but the fact remains: the game’s very premise is a total mystery. The appearance ofLiara and the Milky Way galaxyin the aforementioned teaser suggests thatME4will be picking up whereME3left off, following the remaining vestiges of galactic life as they rebuild after the Reaper invasion. This is a fairly captivating premise for the averageMass Effectfan, but it’s not enough for a good story; forMass Effect 4to succeed, it will need to introduce a new conflict, which is easier said than done.
Should Mass Effect 4 Feature Another Reaper-Like Threat?
Existential Galactic Threats Are Quintessentially Mass Effect
TheMass Effectfranchise is about a lot of different things. There are the interpersonal relationships that form the backbone of the player’s narrative journey in each individual game, there is the political intrigue, and there’s also the allure of bizarre sci-fi concepts like unfamiliar alien life, just to name a few of the series' narrative pillars. But at the end of the day, the originalMass Effecttrilogyhinges on the ever-present threat of the Reaper invasion, which lends gravity to even the most seemingly inconsequential matters; sparking a romance with a crewmate is much more significant when it’s one of the last things Shepard might do with their life, after all.
Thus, introducing a threat on asimilar level as the Reaperscould be important for keeping theMass Effectnarrative formula intact comeMass Effect 4. Moreover, it would be a clear way to establish major stakes in this new chapter of the franchise, galvanizing both players and the characters of the game world to take decisive, aggressive action. Assuming that this new threat is somehow different from the Reapers, this could work well. But also, a new Reaper-esque threat runs the risk of being a bit old-hat.
Mass Effect 3 Sets Up Interesting Narrative Conflicts Outside the Reapers
There’s a strong chance that attempting to replicate the circumstances of theReaper threat inMass Effect 4could feel contrived, and like retreading old ground. Additionally, such a threat could be too big, in a sense: after a certain point, an excess of existential threats can make a story feel meaningless, as the characters have already bested one antagonistic force that was meant to be the “ultimate” enemy. It will be hard forME4to top the Reaper invasion in terms of scale and consequence, but maybe it doesn’t have to.
Bythe end ofME3, the galaxy’s problems are far from solved. There’s still strife at the Citadel, tension between races like the Turians and Geth, and factions whose broad-strokes goals conflict with those of the protagonists. Perhaps, then,Mass Effect 4could follow a story of political intrigue, or of war between various intergalactic races, making for a more personal and socially complex story instead of a simplistic one about the life or death of an entire galaxy.
