@Tjuz I can't say I'm caught up in the hype, I am one of the hype creators! 😉
I can't remember if I mentioned it around here, but when I heard Karpyshyn was joining other BioWare veterans in forming Archetype Entertainment 7 years ago, I immediately set up a Google alert for any articles mentioning them. It took a looong time before anything of interest popped, but when it did, I was all over it.
Now, I've started ignoring them, as I don't want too many more details about the game (except the reveal of FemJun, which isn't far off) 😉
I intend to read the second Peter F. Hamilton novel before playing the game, but those novels have nothing to do with Jun's story at all (AFAIK) but are well written and provides tons of great world building (well, I'm assuming the second matches the quality of the first).
So, yeah, the hype is real, I know, I'm doing my best to build it 😉

I'm happy to know that you'll be alongside me for the journey, you are very welcome!

Is not happening.

@Tasuki Not very helpful and also a misunderstanding of what this thread is about. It's not necessarily about any concrete sequel, but about games that will fill the void and become "the next Mass Effect".

We all know that a direct sequel won't happen (barring some kind of oversized miracle).

@FuriousMachine I should have asked you this before but did you happen to read the Mass Effect novels? I asked someone recently about them (because I was curious about trying the game series) instead they went off on a rant about something else entirely. The books and their order are:

• Original Trilogy Era (By Drew Karpyshyn & William C. Dietz)
• 1. Mass Effect: Revelation (May 2007) – A prequel to the first game following David Anderson and Saren Arterius.
• 2. Mass Effect: Ascension (June 2008) – Set shortly after the events of the first game, focusing on Kahlee Sanders and the Ascension Project.
• 3. Mass Effect: Retribution (August 2010) – Set after Mass Effect 2, continuing the story of Kahlee Sanders and Paul Grayson dealing with Cerberus and Reaper tech.
• 4. Mass Effect: Deception (February 2012) by William C. Dietz – Set after Retribution and before Mass Effect 3
• Mass Effect: Andromeda Era (By Various Authors)
• 5. Mass Effect Andromeda: Nexus Uprising (March 2017) by Jason M. Hough and K.C. Alexander – Details the political crisis on the Nexus before the other arks arrive.
• 6. Mass Effect Andromeda: Initiation (November 2017) by N.K. Jemisin and Mac Walters – A prequel following Cora Harper in the Milky Way.
• 7. Mass Effect Andromeda: Annihilation (November 2018) by Catherynne M. Valente – Set during the journey of the quarian ark Keelah Si'yah to Andromeda.

I read "Revelation", "Ascension" and "Retribution" a long time ago and remember very little of them, but I gave the first two novels three stars and "Retribution" got five.
I am actually unsure about "Deception", it is listed as "Want to Read" on my Goodreads profile, but the description sounds awfully familiar, so I think I may have read it. This was back in the day before I started using Goodreads actively, so it could be that I've read it and forgot to update it.

I've got the Andromeda novels coming up. I wasn't all too keen on those after having played the fourth game, but I recently discovered that N.K. Jemisin co-wrote one of them and I love some of the other novels she's written, so that bumped them up my to-read list. Will probably revisit the OG novels at some point as well.

A spiritual successor to a game will have to have its own spiritual successor. How ironic.

@FuriousMachine I'm not sure if you saw but there's going to be a Mass Effect documentary. There was an article here about it today and it's also on Deadline.

https://deadline.com/2026/11/massive-effect-bioware-story-doc...

Massive Effect: The BioWare Story will document how the Edmonton, Canada-based games company grew from being founded in 1995 by three medical doctors – Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip – to selling 100 million copies of its role-playing games, which include Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate. Written and directed by Akash Sherman (Clara) and co-produced by Canada’s Fennessey Films and Score G Productions, the film has a unique insight into the story, with filming beginning two years before Electronic Arts announced the closure of BioWare on October 21 last month and continuing to lens throughout.

I had a look at your page and saw the novels you got through, then snooped some more through your reading. I'll probably not update mine until January'ish, there are too many and I need to properly sit down and figure out what audiobooks I got through this year too, a lot. I forgot to mention but there's also a book you might not have heard of called 'Bioware: Stories and Secrets from 25 Years of Game Development'. I had another look through it recently, it's a mix of everything. Studio history, insider info, staff pictures and stories, sketches, concept art, storyboards, cover designs, a toaster for some reason. The games featured are:

• Shattered Steel
• Baldur's Gate & Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
• MDK2
• Neverwinter Nights
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Jade Empire
• Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
• Mass Effect / Mass Effect 2 / Mass Effect 3 / Mass Effect: Andromeda (plus Mass Effect Galaxy and code-named/cancelled projects like Agent)
• Dragon Age: Origins / Dragon Age II / Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Anthem
• Shadow Realms (cancelled project)

Happy N7 day! Just got word that my Tali and Legion figures from Dark Horse Direct has shipped, so that's something worth smiling about on an otherwise melancholy N7 day.

@GirlVersusGame Yes, I did indeed read about the documentary, but I'm not too optimistic about my chances of seeing it, as it will air on Canadian TV. I have absolutely no illusions of that being shown in any form here in Norway, but I'll hold on to a tiny hope that they will put it on the web at some point.

The BioWare book you're referring to is standing proudly on my bookshelf. I never did manage to read through it all, due to the eyesight issues I mentioned in the books thread a while back and won't bother going into here, but there's some pretty cool artwork and pictures in there. I managed to get about halfway through it, though, and apart from the beginnings of the company, it wasn't terribly interesting, I thought. I will consider revisiting it now that my eyesight issues have largely gone away.

@FuriousMachine I didn't know Dark Horse did models and figurines. Batman was my first adventure into graphic novels then I found Dark Horse through their movie tie-in omnibus collections and was hooked. I think it's how gritty and raw they do go, but also they do so many game art-books too. They are an easy publisher to stay up to date with too, even the new Wolverine game one is Dark Horse which is a little odd considering Marvel are a huge publisher too. I suppose it has something to do with the Wolverine gaming rights being with Sony, I didn't follow all of that. Their art-books I do and they sell hundreds, I want to eventually read their Mass Effect Trilogy one, it's huge but obviously I need to play the games first.

I started God of War yesterday, I have a bunch of books from that series ready for when I finish it. Mostly development/history of type books, and of course most of them are Dark Horse. I just found their figurines they were hidden under the products tab, I didn't get any figurines but did see a Cyberpunk Tarot deck and that's gone in the basket. I saw a Jane and a John Shepard too. I'm assuming Mass Effect is a lot like Cyberpunk in that there is Female V and Male V, maybe I'll watch a review after God of War. My fear for the series is that I'd get overwhelmed by so much dialogue, then lose track of the story. I'm sure there is game-play in there too I just get nervous of games that possibly drown the player in dialogue. I thought Dragon Age would be the same, it ended up having so much combat/etc, maybe this will too. I'm glad to hear your eyes are feeling/getting better, I'll keep an eye out for the documentary when it launches. Given how well known the developers are it might go elsewhere, Prime and such.

Edit: putting this here so as not to over-post your announcement/thing.

I did play Origins as part of a set, I believe it was also with Dragon Age 2 and some DLC, probably PS3. I played Inquisition too and really liked those games.

@GirlVersusGame The Mass Effect games are definitely plot-heavy, but then again, so is Dragon Age: Origins, so if that one worked for you, Mass Effect probably will too (at least from that standpoint). I'd say both series are even more plot-heavy than the God of War series, but maybe I'm simply misremembering.

For those who'll read this in time, for N7 Day today, the Mass Effect voice cast will hold a 90-minute live panel at 6:30pm CET. You can find all the details and book your ticket (it's free) here.

I have seen them do this before and it's a very informal "hang" with a bunch of voice actors who know each other well and I found it very entertaining. Here's hoping this one is, too.

Oh, sweet! Wouldn't mind seeing a snap of 'em when they arrive, if it's not too much trouble...? No pressure, though. There's a shop in town which has Legion, Garrus and Wrex on display and I'm sorely tempted by them every time I walk past (even though I have no shelf space).

At any rate, I'm glad you had something positive to think about on N7 Day!