Highlights

  • Mass Effect 4 should prioritize neglected alien races as squadmates to add depth to the game and provide greater representation.
  • Including batarians and geth as potential squadmates in Mass Effect 4 could offer insights into their cultures and change players' opinions.

Mass Effect takes place in a massive and diverse universe across two galaxies. Part of the appeal of the first Mass Effect game was the premise that humanity discovered intergalactic society, and found itself at the bottom of the social hierarchy because the other aliens were far older and more established on the galactic stage. This was a barrier for Shepard to overcome, and in doing so they learned about the different alien races, their culture, and history through the people who joined them on the Normandy.

Throughout the trilogy, the aliens represented by the companions who joined Shepard and Ryder were the best understood and the most popular with players, but other alien races were left by the wayside. Mass Effect 4 could prioritize these races as squadmates.

mass effect 2 3 reapers
Related
Why Mass Effect 4's Antagonists Will Always Be on the Heels of the Reapers

The Reapers are one of the most memorable parts of Mass Effect's lore, and the next game might have some trouble living up to their legacy.

Possible Squadmates for Mass Effect 4

Include the Neglected Aliens

Mass Effect 4 has the chance to open the doors to the other alien races, including the ones discovered in Andromeda. Most of the races in Mass Effect are considered joke races, such as the vorcha, the hanar, and the elcor, and having them be companions in the party wouldn't be practical. However, there are still several interesting races in Mass Effect who are either underrepresented as companions or are left out entirely. Among them are:

  • Geth
  • Batarians
  • Salarians
  • Drell
  • Angara
  • Quarians

A Batarian Squadmate

The batarians in particular have been underrepresented. Batarians may not have been included as squadmates because of their antagonistic role in the series. However, the same could be said about the geth, but Mass Effect 2 included a geth squadmate, which provided a lot of insight into the geth as a whole and changed many players' opinions on the species.

Garrus' mercenary team on Omega included a batarian, so working with batarians is not something completely beyond the realm of possibility. Additionally, though the batarians were hit first when the Reapers arrived, there were still many of them throughout the galaxy and if there is still a surviving society in Mass Effect 4, it isn't a leap to suggest that there could be batarian survivors.

Bringing Back Fan Favorites in Mass Effect 4

Returning to the Geth

The geth are another group that is underrepresented among companions and Mass Effect 4 would be the perfect time to see an unused concept from Mass Effect 2 for a Frankenstein-geth companion put together from salvage and integrated into the geth consensus, provided it's rebuilt. With the Destroy ending from Mass Effect 3 likely being canon, the geth would have been eradicated at the end of the trilogy. However, getting rid of the geth is a massive waste, and bringing them back with the help of the quarians would be a great solution.

The Popularity of Tali and Mordin

Having squadmates be aliens from these other, lesser-seen races means that some fan favorites may be left out, but it also gives the series a chance to give the Mass Effect universe more depth. Batarians and geth come across as monoliths, rather than as individuals like the other races such as turians or asari do.

Other races are popular with fans, such as quarians and salarians, that Mass Effect has underused. Tali, Mordin, and Thane were companions who were both very popular with players, but they were the only quarian, salarian, and drell squadmates in the entire series, and having more of them in Mass Effect 4 would be a wise move for greater representation.