The Mass Effect series might be on ice for now, but that hasn't done much to stop the hype train from barreling full force toward Mass Effect 4, the next game in the series. Mass Effect 4 will be the franchise's return to the spotlight after the controversial launch and subsequent lukewarm reception of Mass Effect Andromeda, so BioWare is no doubt feeling the pressure to perform.
Luckily, the long-running RPG studio has access to a wealth of invaluable lessons in the form of the original Mass Effect trilogy—three games that are regularly cited as some of the best ever made. Certainly, one can only hope that BioWare will adopt the best parts of those early games—parts that were inexplicably left behind for Andromeda—but Mass Effect 4 could also serve as an opportunity for BioWare to get certain things right, that the first three games got wrong. ME4 will effectively be a second "first" game for the franchise (or third, if one counts Andromeda as more of a reboot than a spin-off). In other words, BioWare will be using ME4 to reintroduce audiences to the Mass Effect universe after more than a decade, so it should be even better than the games that preceded it, ideally.
For All Its Flaws, Mass Effect: Andromeda's Approach to Romance is Something ME4 Can Learn From
While Andromeda was let down in several key areas, one of its approaches to romances is something Mass Effect 4 should consider revisiting.
Mass Effect 4 Should Avoid Repeating Mass Effect 1's Romance Problems
Fan-Favorite Characters Like Tali Weren't Romanceable Until Mass Effect 2
Most of Mass Effect's iconic characters are introduced in the first game, and that includes romance options: amorous crew members like Liara T'Soni and Ashley Williams make their debut in Mass Effect 1. They're joined by other famously romanceable NPCs like Tali'Zorah and Garrus Vakarian, though neither of them are eligible for romance until the second game. There are a number of explanations for why BioWare may have omitted these characters' romance subplots, but the most probable is rather simple: the Quarians and Turians were likely not viewed as having enough relatability or sex appeal, unlike a human character like Kaiden Alenko or the decidedly human-like Asari NPCs.
Fans have also pointed to Tali's age in Mass Effect 1 as a possible reason why she was initially non-romanceable, but this theory is flawed: Tali is 22 in Earth years in ME1, making her just three years younger than Ashley, whose age is of no consequence. Also, this theory does nothing to explain why Garrus was off the table at first.
Whatever the reason, BioWare chose not to make these characters available as romance options from the outset, only putting them in those roles come Mass Effect 2, after the series gained millions of fans, many of whom expressed their interest in these teammates. And it's a good thing that BioWare made this call, since the Tali and Garrus romance plots are typically referenced as some of the best in the series. That's not exactly surprising, since Tali and Garrus are two of the best-written characters in Mass Effect, but it's telling that BioWare needed to be prompted by fans before committing to this narrative path. Hopefully, the same mistake won't be repeated in ME4.
Mass Effect 4 Shouldn't Be Contingent Upon Fan Feedback
Leaving Tali's and Garrus' romance stories for ME2 and ME3 is representative of a bigger problem: the lack of a cohesive, determined creative vision at the franchise's outset. Thankfully, creativity and vision are two resources that the original Mass Effect trilogy otherwise has in droves, so these delayed romances don't cause too great an issue. One could even argue that the Tali and Garrus romances are better in the long run, since Shepard got to be just friends with them first. But this is a happy coincidence, and shouldn't be taken as a gold standard or template to follow. If there are characters in Mass Effect 4 that are worthy of a romance subplot, then BioWare should give it to them, regardless of what the studio predicts fans might think.
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