For the most part, BioWare’sMass Effectseries has remained the same, aside fromMass Effect: Andromeda, which felt like a significant departure and garnered plenty of criticism in the end, largely on account of that departure. In light ofMass Effect: Andromeda’s reputation, it’s likely the nextMass Effectwill make an attempt to move backwards a bit and offer an experience more akin to the original trilogy, which is made especially evident in its apparent inclusion offranchise characters like Liara T’Soni. If it does, it’s possible that the nextMass Effectgame will even go so far as to include one recycled trope in its narrative, but it might be better off avoiding that at all costs.
Mass Effecthas always been about the choices that players make, with those narratives branching all the more as the series progressed through its second and third installments. This is ultimately where one of its most common storytelling strategies, the “suicide mission” trope, comes in, as it puts an extreme amount of pressure on players to make the right choices if they wish to see specific outcomes. While choices in aMass Effectgame do need to carry a substantial amount of weight, however, there may be better ways to do it than to simply take the suicide mission approach.
Mass Effect 4 Should Avoid the ‘Suicide Mission’ Narrative
The ‘Suicide Mission’ Trope Has Been a Common Theme in Mass Effect
WhileMass Effect 2is the only game that has technically featured a suicide mission, the overarching theme of the narrative staple and the approach players take to it has been spread pretty evenly throughout theMass Effectseries. The whole idea of the suicide mission involves players preparing for an upcoming doomsday event that could enact a fatal toll on their crew if they aren’t careful with their choices.Mass Effect 2is the best example of this, which includes a mission explicitly titled “Suicide Mission” that depends heavily on the player’s preparation, including ship upgrades, loyalty missions, and assigning the right companions to specific tasks.
The firstMass Effect’s “suicide mission” isn’t quite as dependent on players' choices asMass Effect 2’s, but there are still several things they must consider before heading into the final mission, like which squad members are best suited for certain roles andShepard’s Paragon and Renegade levels.Mass Effect 3, on the other hand, brings back the concept established inMass Effect 2, but attaches even greater consequences to it. In the end, the outcome ofMass Effect 3relies on the player’s Galactic Readiness score and their Effective Military Strength rating, which is determined by the decisions players make throughout the game in its main story, side missions, and exploration.
Mass Effect 4 Avoiding the ‘Suicide Mission’ Trope Would Have Several Benefits
Although thisnarrative approach in theMass Effectseriescertainly encourages players to even more thoroughly consider their choices before making them, it simultaneously causes a bit of a problem with immersion. Once players find out about the consequences of a suicide mission in aMass Effectgame, they are then presented with a subconscious checklist of sorts that they need to fulfill in order to get their desired outcome. Essentially, it relieves them of the consequences of choice and offers them a bit too much control over the fate of themselves and their companions in the game.
WhileMass Effect 2is the only game that has technically featured a suicide mission, the overarching theme of the narrative staple and the approach players take to it has been spread pretty evenly throughout theMass Effectseries.
This is ultimately why the nextMass Effectshould avoid the trope at all costs and instead present players with consequences that are more elaborate than simply “this companion will die if this choice isn’t made.” The nextMass Effectstory can still present players with a high-stakes narrative without including its own suicide mission by tying those stakes to something else. More nuanced stakes, like the moral dilemmas of leadership or the cost of peace would better suitthe nextMass Effect’s story. Furthermore, it would prevent the series from looking and feeling like it’s simply recycling its storytelling and repeating itself over and over again.
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