Highlights

  • Mass Effect 4 has a chance to shift focus to aliens over standard humans, offering the potential for new dynamics and richer storytelling.
  • Human companions in the series have often been overshadowed by unique alien characters, requiring more depth and diversity.
  • The underrepresentation of certain alien races like Batarians and Hanar could define the identity of Mass Effect 4's squad.

While it's only been teased so far, Mass Effect 4 has been confirmed to be in some form of development at BioWare for several years now. As a franchise that saw the studio going beyond the pure RPG titles it was originally known for, Mass Effect has remained influential as a series that has gone over a decade since the conclusion of Commander Shepard’s trilogy. Mass Effect 4 seems to be ushering in a new age of its galaxy while featuring callbacks to the past, but there’s one trope of the series that might not be worth keeping around.

There has been a unique narrative and conflict featured within each Mass Effect title, but there are also several consistent elements that have carried over for better or worse. It makes sense that Mass Effect's Shepard and Ryder would continue to operate within the structure of a ship and its crew, but the composition of the franchise’s cast has fallen into patterns at times. Returning faces such as Garrus and Tali who appear throughout the ME trilogy are able to build over time, but the same can’t necessarily be said for the standard humans that have always found themselves in the player’s party.

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Mass Effect's Human Companions Haven't Always Matched Up to Alien Party Members

The Diversity of Shepard's Squads Has Overshadowed Their Humans

Mass Effect has always set itself apart through the quality of its cinematic presentation, and the strong performances across all the series’ companions have played a role in this aspect of each title. With the universe’s memorable alien races representing so much of the lore and unique design of the franchise, however, its non-human party members have always garnered a level of popularity that makes them recognizable to even many casual gamers. Examples such as the appeal of the rough charm of Krogan like Urdnot Wrex and Grunt, or the intrigue of Thane as a Drell and Tali as a Quarian respectively, have all come together to define Mass Effect’s identity, but their strengths also highlight a weaker element of the series.

Basic Human Companions Have Been a Repeated Formula Since ME1

When Ashley and Kaidan appeared in the original Mass Effect, they were able to make their most memorable impact through the ultimate decision to only leave one of them alive. Their similar military positions within the crew as two humans dampen the magnitude of this loss in a practical sense, but future games still included similar pairings. Human Mass Effect companions like Jacob, Cora, and Liam have their own fans, but many players have also agreed that some humans can feel underdeveloped when stacked up against their extraterrestrial counterparts.

Mass Effect 4's Potential to Triumph Through Leaving More Room for Alien Squadmates

One Quality Human is Enough for the Next ME's Party

There’s been a fair share of forgettable faces as each Mass Effect has included an obligatory human pairing, but the depth that party members like Mass Effect 2's Miranda and Jack could influence a more memorable character in the same vein for the next game. There’s always the potential to create interesting humans within the future setting, but there are plenty of alien races that have not seen themselves fully realized as companions. Variations such as male Quarians and female Salarians or Krogan could bring an entirely new dynamic to the squad alone, and this potential hopefully won’t be lost at the expense of another human’s inclusion.

The Mass Effect Universe's Underrepresented Races

Many players would likely agree that seeing another alien in Mass Effect 4’s party is a more captivating prospect than having a new set of humans, but the chance to have species that haven’t yet been in the spotlight as companions is even more exciting in particular. The rawness of the Batarians and Vorcha or the impractical nature of races like Hanar and Volus all raise questions about how BioWare could manage to implement them at all, but doing so could be what ends up defining the new identity of Mass Effect 4.