Topic: The next Mass Effect

@Tjuz hehehe, yeah, you and me both. I was in my early thirties back in those glorious days...

@HallowMoonshadow As and when you do play Mass Effect 3, I would love to read your thoughts, especially as somebody who's both a newcomer to the series and a self-confessed "not usually my thing" participant. Just be warned that, with all of its expansions included, ME3 is a chunky game that'll take a fair amount of time to get through, so plan accordingly! Really hope you enjoy it!

I watched a video (which I'll attach below) with more details on the investigation system in the upcoming Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy. Of course it's a CRPG, so not quite the next Mass Effect, but since we brought up Rogue Trader before I figured it worth it to post here. It sounds really interesting. I've basically always been disappointed in the ways investigations are handled by just about every game. It's a hard system to get right, but I really like the sound of what they're selling so far. Whether it's all just marketing speak and it's going to feel a bit more bare-bones, the jury will still be out on. That said, since the investigations are an integral part to what makes this story Dark Heresy, I am inclined to believe them when I hear how much effort they've put into getting it right. I'm very intrigued! Probably will be a good few years before I'll play it anyhow, since I haven't even gotten to Rogue Trader yet as I'm waiting for all the DLC to be out. At least I should get the very best version of the game eventually!

@Tjuz I really need to get into one of the Owlcat CRPGs. I'm at work right now so I couldn't watch the whole video, but the style here reminded me so much of Planescape: Torment that it almost hurt (P:T is probably my favourite RPG of all time and one I intend to revisit again soon).
We'll see what's next after I finish Ghost of Yotei, but a Pathfinder game (once again I can't remember which is the first one) will be high on the list.

@FuriousMachine I haven't played any of Owlcat's games thus far either! Divinity: Original Sin was my gateway into big CRPGs and Wasteland 3 is the only other one I've finished since. Both fully played in co-op with one of my best friends. We tried Divinity: Original Sin 2 too on two occasions, but neither times did we finish it. We did log 93 hours of playtime in it and got as far as Act 4 the second time, but for some reason, we just burnt out on it. We weren't nearly into it as much as the first game. Wasteland 3 was a lot of fun, though I think we never played the second DLC. I suppose I could play these Owlcat games in co-op with him as well, but since we live in separate countries nowadays and are older with more responsibilites, I think it's gonna be hard for our schedules to line up. I'll just have to tackle a CRPG by my lonesome with these Owlcat games, which is an intimidating yet fun prospect!

I've always been intrigued by Planescape: Torment (which stays more on-topic for a Mass Effect thread). How many times have you played it? I know it has very limited, if not entirely non-existent, combat, which does intrigue me a lot. It's also on the shorter side as far as I know for these big, sprawling CRPGs. If you take off the nostalgia glasses, do you think it holds up for new players nowadays? As for Pathfinder, I think the first one's called Kingmaker? Can't blame you or myself for being uncertain about it, because it seems like everyone just talks about Wrath of the Righteous nowadays!

***

I wasn't at all aware of The Game Awards happening overnight, but as promised, Exodus did show off a trailer. Before you get excited, I'll already spoil that the game is delayed to early 2027. I suppose it could've been worse, but still disappointing. Anyway, I won't say too much about it to let you experience the trailer fresh, but let me know what you think!

@Tjuz Game Awards: I went to bed 9pm, got back up at 1am, watched the Game Awards live and went back to bed 5am. I'm that excited for Exodus, which was the main reason for me hitting it live this year (though I do enjoy watching it, so this isn't the first time I've rigged my schedule to accommodate live-watching). I greatly enjoyed the trailer, but was hoping for at 2026 release, so that was a bit disappointing. I hope this means that they are making sure the game is solidly polished and as bug free as these things can be before releasing. It also looks a bit iffy in places, graphics wise, but this was never going to be the prettiest belle at the ball anyway, so that's okay. All in all, I was quite satisfied

Some other great announcements too; none of which really fall under the topic of this thread, though. Mass Effect itself was a no-show, as expected. I think that if they'd have a trailer ready for the Game Awards we would have seen something on N7 day. I think it's way more likely that its next appearance will be N7 day or, more likely, Summer Game Fest (though not necessarily next year - and that is if it isn't killed or sold off, of course).

Straying a bit off-topic: I think I've played through Planescape: Torment three or four times and loved it each and every time. It's difficult to say how it will play for new audiences, but if you go in expecting a fantastic story-based adventure game with some RPG trappings, loaded with truly exceptional characters in a most unusual setting, you should be good. Graphics and sound are, of course, of its time, but seeing as people are deliberately making pixelart and chiptune games I don't think it not being photorealistic would be a problem. It is quite exquisite in its art direction, though, and the setting is well realised. The voice acting is great, as is the soundtrack. Would absolutely recommend giving it a go. Compared to today's mastodonts it is quite short as well, though still a meaty experience (don't expect rushing through it in a few hours, it is a game steeped in lore and should be savoured).

I've only played a little bit of the first "Divinity" game (well, the first of this generation of the series - played the OG one quite a bit back in the day) and been meaning to get back into that and its sequel, but I'm drowning in great games that needs to be played. I have at least one "Wasteland" on my backlog too, but I can't remember if it's the OG remake or one of its sequels at the moment.

They did a good job with that Exodus trailer. I'd say my optimism for title has risen somewhat. Still very early. Hopefully we get a lengthy gameplay reveal around Summer Game Fest or something.

Star Wars : Fate of the Old Republic could be another one to keep an eye on for this topic. I'm guessing it might be a couple of years before we start getting anything concrete to discuss. Can Casey Hudson find some of his earlier magic.
EDIT: After doing a quick search Casey set up the studio Humanoid Origin in 2021 after leaving Bioware. That studio closed in November 24 due to funding problems. Arconaut Studios who are making this game were founded in July 25 so are only a few months old. This game is nothing but an idea at this point.

@BearsEatBeets Yeah, that one had my attention perking up, but you're right, it is probably very far off. Sad what happened to Hudson's previous attempt to get a company off the ground; the industry is brutal. It's also a crying shame that the last good game he had a hand in was ME3. He also came back to "rescue" Anthem, if memory serves, but I believe it was at a point where it was very little he could do to steer it right. Never played it as I hate live-service games (I refuse to engage in games where I might miss out on content if I don't play it within a specific timeframe) but I understand that it wasn't a success by any metric.
Fingers crossed that this one is a home-run, the guy could do with a win now.

@FuriousMachine yeah I noticed there seems to be some people quick to knock him for the ending to ME3 whilst somehow ignoring his contribution to their favourite parts of the trilogy. He directed the whole trilogy so you have to credit him for the good as well as the bad (or the good and only slightly less good in my opinion). So yeah, I wish him well for this project, for him and for us getting a great game.

@BearsEatBeets Absolutely, seems like we're in total agreement on this as well I would very much like a multiverse machine and travel to one where BioWare wasn't swallowed by EA to see what that universe looks like.

@FuriousMachine Haha, you're more committed than myself alone by knowing the awards were happening, let alone adjusting your sleep for it! I concur that if the delay means it'll just come out all the more polished, it'll be a good thing in the end. I just thought we'd have a nicely spaced out Exodus 2026 and (hopefully) The Expanse 2027! Two Mass Effect successors in one year is too much for my brain to either handle the excitement or disappointment.

Yeah, the graphics don't look top of the line or anything, but I think they look good enough for what they're doing. Honestly, I don't feel like I know much more of what the story is going to be about, but one thing did irk me... "You're the only one who can handle celestial tech". You know the lore better than I do so this probably means something to you, but it sounded to me like the "only one person in the universe is somehow equipped to deal with space magic" trope... which I'm not a fan of. Hopefully there's a lot more to it than that or I'm reading into it wrong at least. I hated this kind of narrative in Hogwarts Legacy as well as Starfield. It always just seems like such an uncreative way to start a character's journey, and one that you can then explain everything away with with relative ease. Since you said the lore of this game is very interesting though, I'm gonna give the writers the benefit of the doubt here!

Isn't the next Mass Effect still in pre-production? I doubt we're going to see anything truly noteworthy before 2027 at the earliest still. Crazy how long ago that game has been officially announced, and yet they have nothing to show for it. I guess it could be worse. You could be an Elder Scrolls fan. I've put Planescape: Torment on my wishlist to remind myself of it as I shop! I have always been very intersted, so if you say it largely holds up, colour me intrigued.

@Tjuz Well, to be fair, this is the very first time Archetype has said anything about a release window for Exodus, so I wouldn't call this a "delay" so much as arriving later than hoped.

As for the lore, I don't really know all that much about the game's lore, my knowledge is primarily from reading the Peter F. Hamilton novel, which is set looooooong before the events in the game, as I understand it. Also, there's quite a bit of interesting backgrounding of the universe on the Exodus website (which, granted, it's been a while since I last checked out), but nothing I've read gave me any indication that Jun (or anyone else, for that matter) would have a "chosen one" level unique understanding of Celestial tech. The trailer sure leans heavily into that trope, though. Don't mind it all that much myself, but would have preferred something a bit more original, sure.

I have no idea of how far along the next Mass Effect actually is, but yeah, Gamble did say it was early yet. And I fully expect it to be a long time before we see any concrete gameplay, I was thinking more along the lines of another teaser to remind us that this thing is still knocking about (which is why I wasn't expecting anything for the Game Awards; if they had anything I think N7 day would have been the time to show something and I think that will be the case going forward, at least until they have a huge announcement type thing ready to roll).

Hope you'll enjoy P:T if and when you play it

@FuriousMachine Ohhh, I was fully under the impression that they had given it a 2026 release window before. Maybe I just read into the speculation in this very thread too much! I didn't realise the novel you read was set so far in the past, but I'm sure a lot of it will come back into the game's narrative. (Or else why even bother with a lorebook like that?) I hope it's just the trailer then selling it as such to the average consumer. That type of stuff is definitely what sells, so I wouldn't fault them for marketing it in that way even if it's more complicated in reality.

I feel like we've had so many teasers for the new Mass Effect at this point! It's torture. It's a human rights violation. To think that every time they teased anything, they were basically just making it up as they go since they seem to still not have a solid foundation for the actual game. Darnit, BioWare! I hope it'll speed up now that Veilguard is out at least.

@Tjuz The novel does a fantastic job of setting up the history of the setting whilst also telling a great sci-fi story in its own right. I highly recommend it if you like reading sci-fi novels. How closely it will tie in with the game's overall story is unclear, but I imagine the game won't reference the novels in any discernible detail (though there are bound to be some easter eggs, I suppose )

I won't be surprised if Veilguard is big part of why they're not further along; I imagine there were a lot of execs wanting to have a foot on the brakes until they saw how Veilguard was received before allowing the project to progress too far. It is EA after all, I cannot see any scenario where BioWare were allowed to spec out the game they want to build without heavy involvement from the "how can we maximise profit" guys.

@Spectralmews Yeah, we aren't really expecting to see that BioWare again, at least not at BioWare. Which is why, when discussing the "next Mass Effect", we are mostly looking at games from other teams that may fill that role for the Mass Effect type of game. Exodus from Archetype Entertainment (consisting of many BioWare/Mass Effect veterans) and The Expanse: Osiris Reborn by Owlcat Games are the ones that, seemingly, are furthest along and are most similar in setting and execution to the Mass Effect games, so they are getting heavy focus right now.

We'd love to discover others in the same category, either far along or just revealed, too. Many of us don't have much faith in the future of BioWare (and Mass Effect) over at EA, especially after the sale, so we cast our eyes elsewhere to lessen the blow, if it should come

@FuriousMachine I might have to see if it has an audiobook available! I have too many hobbies that take up my time to add books to that, but I do enjoy listening to an audiobook here and there while doing chores and such. Maybe that's a good way to get myself especially excited about this game! But yeah, it's a shame how far BioWare has fallen both due to their own mismanagement as well as interference from the money people. That said, Rog has said Veilguard was one of their best efforts, so maybe there's hope for the new ME yet!

All we can do is speculate how important this truly is to the game but for me it doesn't show a lot of enthusiasm for the game if the studio head would rather leave and do something else than see them get their first game released.

@BearsEatBeets I'm not really worried about this (even though the video seems to think we should be panicking so that they can calm us down). This looks very much like Wizards re-structuring things internally and that that created an opening Ohlen wanted to capitalise on and that the timing for that worked out for them all. Don't feel that it necessary reflects on the game in any way (having seen all the Q&A's he's held about the game, it's not looking anything like him stepping aside due to lack of faith in the project)

@FuriousMachine yeah I'm not bothered by it in the slightest it and trying to make mountains out of molehills is YouTube 101. My only thought was that I interpret it as maybe he isn't all that passionate about running a video game studio. Whilst that sounds bad he could still have done an excellent job so far and the game come be none the worse for it. It has had no bearing on my expectations for the game.

Bad news bears....?