I understand that the story for ME4 is probably already underway, but I had an interesting idea for the next sequel that I wanted to run by all of you forumgoers:
Why not make Mass Effect 4 take place in the immediate future, say 30-40 years after Mass Effect 3? The story will be that of an Alliance (or N7, if you prefer) marine who is one of the first Sol-stranded humans to go through a rebuilt Mass Effect portal, along with his turian companion. It will be an ensemble piece (the turian and human will both be playable characters, along with possibly another alien later on). And while customization will be lighter this game, you can still customize all three main characters (though not their backstories).
I think this works for a few reasons: One, making the game take place a few decades in the future allows the player to see the consequences of the ending of Mass Effect 3. A major complaint in the game is the way in which it ended, with very little closure and only about a minute's exposition shared between all of the characters we love. If Mass Effect 4 takes place 40 years later, then the player gets to wander around a universe that is rebuilding from the events that unfolded in ME3. That means that potentially all the questions that we have about ME3\s ending can be answered.
It also means that the setting can be altered quite a bit; Earth would still be partially ruined by the Reaper attack. Because the Mass Effect Relays were destroyed, the entire resistance fleet that came with Shepard in ME3 would be stranded in the system. For that reason, Earth would be a crowded slum filled with aliens of all races. You would see a lot of the skyscrapers in disrepair. Massive battlecruisers have been repurposed as farms, especially for the turians and quarians on their weird diets. Most of the weapons and vehicles pre-date the Reaper War, since all industry went to repairing infrastructure and space travel, and getting the Mass Relays back online.
ME4 would start with the Sol Relay coming back into operation. The protagonists, a middle aged human and a young turian, are part of a pioneering vessel that is going through the relay - the first people from the Sol system since the Relays collapsed. I'm not going to write a novel about the events that follow, but basically the political landscape can be entirely different. The humans can be the last people to get their own Relay up, and so be thrust into a galaxy where all of the other races are re-establishing relationships. There could be humans scattered all over, but without the connection to Earth they have become a lower caste, similar to quarians in the original trilogy. Also, a lot of the major players from ME1-3 can be running things in 4, allowing the player to see where they ended up (assuming they're still alive in this import).
No protagonist can live up to Shepard, so that's why I suggest splitting the protagonist into two or three established characters. The human should be older, again to distinguish between himself and Shepard. The turian should just be a kid, too young to remember the Reaper War, and excited to see his homeworld for the first time. Instead of choosing origin stories, make their origins set, but perhaps put an event right near the start of the game that separates the characters, ideologically or otherwise - then make the player choose whose adventure they want to follow.
tl;dr cliffs - Make the story about the Alliance's reintegration into the galaxy, through the repair of the Mass Relay. Make everything as much a discovery for our protagonists as it is for us.
- Give everything a "used future" look. Though the other Council races fixed the Relays faster than humans, galactic trade hasn't been repaired overnight. Instead of the utopian feel of Mass Effect 1-3, give most races broken down vehicles and overgrown streets. Let humans use archaic, patchwork armour and weapons (while ironically, perhaps quarians could have new stuff because of their new, lush planet).
- Instead of giving us one protagonist to define ourselves, give us multiple protagonists and make us choose which we want to identify with. Maybe delegate the others to mere squadmates. Or enemies.
- Use the time period to answer a lot of the questions left by ME3. What happened with the krogan? The quarians? The geth? How did all of those alien forces who were stranded on Sol fare?
That's my little idea, sound off if you love/hate it, and tell me if you think anything plausibly wouldn't work!
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