It's been a while since there's been any major news about Mass Effect 4, but here's one piece of info that will likely tickle the fancy of long-time series fans.
mass effect legendary edition
According to PushSquare, the story for the next Mass Effect game will be led by Mary DeMarle. For those who don't know, she's done incredible work writing the narratives for Eidos Montreal's Deus Ex franchise, as well as the critically acclaimed Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy. DeMarle has signed on as the Senior Narrative Director, meaning she will mostly have the final say about where the story of Mass Effect 4 goes.
Here is the announcement of her hiring, straight from project director Michael Gamble of Bioware:
Oh, hey!
— Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) July 4, 2022
I'm really excited to let you know that Mary DeMarle will be joining the Mass Effect team as Senior Narrative Director. You've seen her work in Guardians of the Galaxy & Deus Ex (to name a few!). She's amazing.
If you're not too convinced, you should know that Guardians Of The Galaxy won the Best Narrative Award at last year's Game Awards. Furthermore, Deus Ex is considered one of the foremost sci-fi games for its time. So you can be darn sure that DeMarle knows what she's doing. Here are her thoughts on the importance of a great story in a video game - especially in an industry where stories almost always play second-fiddle to gameplay (via an interview with GamesIndustry.biz):
For many, many years working in this industry, I've known that story is often subservient to gameplay. But if I understand the game and what is the feeling I'm trying to evoke for players, then I can understand that gameplay is trying to do it this way, and story is here to support that or bring it forward. How can the things I write help to emphasize the things the gameplay needs?
She furthers:
As long as you always know the game you're trying to make and understand why, then it just comes down to constant communication between narrative and gameplay, and constantly looking and understanding it from that point of view.
The announcement from Gamble is actually the only time this was all confirmed. That's because DeMarle has actually shared the news on her LinkedIn page last July 1st, though she didn't mention any specific project, writes VideoGamesChronicle. Now we know what project she's working on.
Read Also: Mass Effect 4 Merch Got Fans Talking About Shepard's Return, But It Wasn't To Be
Where Could The Story Of Mass Effect 4 Go?
Based on how the original trilogy ended, there are a multitude of ways that the narrative can go. Even if there seems to be indication that the Destroy ending is the canonical one, it's still possible that Bioware would want to continue wherever players choices were left off. For simplicity's sake, we're not including the secret "Refusal" ending and are only including Destroy, Synthesis, and Control.
According to GamingBolt, there is confidence that Bioware is setting the next Mass Effect back in the Milky Way Galaxy - shortly or a few years after the end of the Reaper War. There's also the possibility that the story will tie in the narratives of both the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, since both galaxies were shown in the first teaser trailer.
There's also the potential for several returning characters (especially if they managed to survive in your playthrough). The likes of Liara, who was actually present in the teaser, could return alongside Wrex and even Samara. That's because these folks have thousand-year lifespans or more. You could argue that Samara will be too old, but we digress.
Either way, it seems like the story of Mass Effect is in good hands.
Related Article: 'Mass Effect' Co-Creator Casey Hudson Is Making A New Sci-Fi Game
This article is posted on GameNGuide
Written by RJ Pierce
