Just for the record, Synthesis was my first-ever, rational, logical, I guess "pure" choice, but then in every subsequent playthrough, I've gone for Destroy.

@Werehog I don't remember exactly, but I believe I've gone the opposite route, with destroy being my first, emotionally motivated response and synthesis being my opinion of the "optimal" resolution. Been so long now that I don't remember the exact outcomes or my reasoning in my early playthroughs. Must find some YT videos to jog my memory (a better option would be to play through the trilogy yet again, but, you know, the backlog <sigh>)

@FuriousMachine I share that sigh. My best friend has been replaying some of the trilogy and sharing her progress with me recently, and it's made me wanna replay the whole thing again!

I was a mess when I got to the end of my first playthrough. I'd gone in totally oblivious to any of the details and stood there for a good twenty minutes, weighing up my options. I felt like Synthesis was the outcome a Star Trek episode would go for, and that's what ultimately tipped the balance for me. It's funny because then yeah, after subsequent playthroughs and learning to love the Mass Effect universe on its own terms, my emotional motivation behind Destroy is totally connected to the fact that my Shepard survives, as well as wider musings on the Reapers, self-determination, assumptions about what might happen next, and the whole cycle thing.

As long as we're all agreed that Control is total BS, that's what matters.

@Werehog It's funny, I've now watched all the endings on YouTube and I can't remember having seen the Control ending before (though I'm sure I must have). The video I watched omitted the conversation prior to the choice, so I'm unsure of what could be said that would have prompted me to choose one or the other, but seeing them back and reading your last comment here, I believe I may actually have been on the exact same journey. I distinctly remember that as Joker was one of my favourite characters and I didn't want EDI to die, I chose the Synthesis ending and I do believe that was my first choice.
As for my subsequent choices, I believe my reasoning was the exact same as yours: should there ever be a continuation I wanted my Shepard to be alive so that she could at least be mentioned in a reference - I was fairly certain any sequel would try to sidestep any potential story conflicts except maybe those who could be included in passing
That said, Andromeda showed how they planned to avoid that whole issue, but the question remains for when (if) ME5 gets released how they will deal with it. Again, I would prefer Shepard's tale to be done, but wouldn't mind some of my choices to be referenced, if possible, including, of course, whether Shepard lived or died

@FuriousMachine Yep, that sounds very familiar.

Methinks you're also right about how to continue the series. I'm vulnerable to fan service just as much as the next nerd, and really approve of how the Dragon Age series has handled similar issues from game to game, but I thought there was a lot of value in how Andromeda made a clean break (and yet still got to tip its hat a couple times). No matter how popular the move, making one ending "canon" is always gonna upset somebody, somewhere. There's got to be a smarter solution.

@Werehog Yeah, it is really sad they dropped the ball with "Andromeda", as it solved all their continuity conundrums and could have been a good series in its own right. I think the biggest obstacle they would have faced, had it not been for the meme-tastic disaster launch, was that the characters and story felt so.... bland? - at least compared to the OG trilogy - that I don't think many of us were all that invested in that side of the ME universe, even after they managed to get the game into decent shape.

It will be interesting to see what Amazon will end up putting out in regards to the TV show, which is still apparently in development. I've always thought the best idea would to make it animated and an anthology with stories taking place during different eras and in different corners of the ME universe, again with mentions of the events from the games every now and then. I would prefer live-action (I typically do), but going the animation route would really open up the options of what types of stories one could tell without having the biggest budget in the history of mankind. Just imagine an episode or two focusing on the behind-the-scenes drama in a "Blasto" film shoot?

While not a deal breaker this is another negative for the game for me.

@FuriousMachine Curious if you have seen this as I think I remember you saying you were hopeful about changing the look of the character.

@BearsEatBeets Hmm, that is disappointing, but I'm not up in arms about it. As far as I can tell, they haven't walked back (yet) the option to have a female character, which would mean a different voice actor and a different character altogether from the default guy. Also, the options they're saying are still on the table (hair, beard, eyes, etc) should be enough for me to move far enough away from the default dude to be happy. I would love to have a Cyberpunk character creator for every single game out there, but I'll settle for what I can get, here. But, yeah, disappointment, for sure.

@FuriousMachine yeah hopefully the female looks better when they finally reveal her. I just think they have given male Jun an odd face.
But yeah, a minor thing, just an unfortunate thing.

@BearsEatBeets I agree, there is something slightly "off" about the main dude's face for me, and I can't really put my finger on what it is. Could be something as simple as not liking the haircut without me realising that that is what it is and could be perfectly happy just giving him a shaved head and a beard. Hard to tell until I get to try it out.
Still, unless they remove the female option as well, I'm not all that worried

@FuriousMachine I totally agree that I find it hard to articulate what exactly about the face I find odd but I do. It seems like each facial feature on it's own is fine but they don't combine into a natural face. I wonder if the eyes are a key aspect because they do look a bit soulless.

There was definitely potential for a great sequel, but I think my biggest problem was that the colonial aspect wasn't fully explored. The marketing made such a fuss about, "you're the aliens this time" but rather than use that concept for drama, intrigue, and interpersonal conflict, it basically boiled down to solving the Angara's problems for them and a couple throwaway lines of dialogue that didn't change anything. It didn't feel different enough, from the fusing of Ryder and SAM unlocking ancient mysteries (cough, Prothean beacon, cough) to the final battle for control over said ancient mysteries (cough, Citadel, cough) and only introducing one new species for an entirely new galaxy was... certainly a choice!

That being said, I really enjoyed Andromeda. I have defended it in the past and would do so again, and wanna replay it at some point, because while it makes its fair share of mistakes, it's still a pretty decent game, and absolutely does not deserve its rock-bottom reputation.

I totally agree with you there. Isn't that what Netflix did with their Dragon Age animated series? I'm not certain, but it sounds familiar. Alas, I think we'd best brace ourselves for a live-action, locked interpretation of the trilogy's story, and just hope that it's still entertaining enough to enjoy!

@Werehog For what it's worth, I think BioWare themselves confirmed last N7 Day that the TV show will not be retelling the story of the original trilogy, but rather be set afterwards. I guess they'd still have to make certain decisions in terms of the state of the galaxy, but it'll piss off the purists in us the least amount possible, I'm sure. Unless you meant it only in relation to the endings, in which case my post can safely be disregarded.

As I believe I've mentioned to Furious before, I've always been fond of the idea of them exploring the untold stories of supporting characters. Not something feasible in the live-action TV space, since they're all unknown entities to new viewers... but this is what would happen in in a universe catered exclusively to me. An anthology-style show where one season can, for example, focus on Mordin Solus' creation of the genophage as some type of political thriller, while the next can focus on the backstory of the Geth and watching their uprising against their creators. If I was the head of Apple TV+ and could (apparently) spend unlimited money on anything that appeals to me, that'd be priority number one!

@Tjuz Oh, I didn't know that about the confirmation of the show's timeframe, thank you! Hopefully it can thread the needle of being something both fresh and original, but also familiar and canon-compliant. Perhaps they've figured out a way where all endings could still be valid...?

Also yes, I love your idea of an anthology show exploring some of the crewmates' backstories! Could work best as an animated series someday. I could see that being a hit, for sure. Never say never!

A sad day for Mass Effect fans, but this was far from unexpected and has been looming ever since news of EA being sold surfaced. With BioWare being no more (R.I.P.), the next (official) Mass Effect title is cancelled. It will be interesting to see if they'll sell of the IP or simply put it in a vault and forget about it. I fear the latter, or even worse, put out some cheap mobile F2P or something like that using the Mass Effect brand.

Still, when I created this thread I didn't really have any high hopes for the next EA/BioWare produced ME game anyway and the thread was created mostly to keep an eye on alternatives that will scratch that Mass Effect itch (which is why I chose a somewhat ambiguous title). Luckily, both Owlcat's Expanse game and Archetype's Exodus are still on track for a 2027 release and, hopefully, more contenders for the throne will show up further down the line. Maybe with former BioWare employees in new and exciting companies.

Keelah se'lai

@FuriousMachine yeah not shocking news but a disappointment for sure. I clung to the hope Mike Gamble could pull things together again and get the franchise back on track. It seems the fact the project was still very much in the early stages probably didn't help.

I'm curious what will happen to the proposed TV series, I find it hard to imagine they keep that going.

I hope that EA sells off the IP just so there is a chance another studio might be able to do something with it. I still think they created a incredibly rich universe in which to tell stories and it would be a shame for it to be just shelved and ignored.

@BearsEatBeets Absolutely, that is my biggest hope, that the IP will be bought by someone looking to continue to create stories in that universe, be it games, movies, tv shows, comics or books. Still, Drew Karpyshyn, the guy I give most credit for the fantastic lore of the universe, is at Archetype, so I'm hoping Exodus does well so that they'll get to put out more games with him as a writer. The Exodus universe is already very rich, thanks to him and Peter F. Hamilton (I can never plug his Exodus novel often enough! Haven't read the second one yet, though, but will soon).

Still, even though the creators are still creating, I will miss the Krogans, the Quarians, the Asarians, the Salarians and all of the other races... though, I refuse to let my dream of a Blasto! spinoff GTA style game set on the Citadel die. The universe wills it to happen!