Highlights
- Mass Effect 4 should leave behind the Reapers as the primary antagonist to avoid retelling the same story as the original trilogy.
- The Reapers as an antagonist become less interesting as players learn more about them, making them a less compelling presence.
- Introducing a new mysterious antagonist for Mass Effect 4 would help keep the game fresh and maintain high levels of science-fiction fear.
When it was officially revealed that BioWare was making Mass Effect 4 it raised a ton of questions. Very little is known of the upcoming installment's gameplay or what direction the story may take, and the developer has been silent on the subject. There is one element from the original trilogy, though, that Mass Effect 4 may want to leave behind.
The first trailer for Mass Effect 4 was rather vague, only revealing Liara and a piece of N7 armor, implying that series protagonist Commander Shepard may be coming back to the franchise. It did not, however, indicate which of Mass Effect 3's endings was the canon one, nor did it reveal what became of the Reapers. If the fourth game wants to stand on its own two feet, it may be wise for it to leave the Reapers behind.
The Role of the Reapers in the Mass Effect Trilogy
In the Mass Effect games, the Reapers served as the primary antagonists. Revealed piecemeal throughout the series, the Reapers are a race of sentient machines that help cultivate life and civilization throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. Once every 50,000 years or so, the machines return from beyond the galaxy to wipe out the civilizations, using the races' genetic material to create more machines before the cycle starts once again. It was revealed in the Leviathan DLC that they were created to stop a cycle wherein organic beings and synthetic beings inevitably went to war with one another and spun out in an unexpected and horrible direction.
In the third game, The Illusive Man served as one of their main agents. At the end of the game, the war with the Reapers ultimately ended and, depending on how the player chose to end Mass Effect 3, there are drastic differences in how the aftermath is laid out for the story. Regardless of what players choose, Reapers should not serve as the primary antagonists for the upcoming fourth game.
Why the Reapers Shouldn't Be the Big Bad in Mass Effect 4
One of the biggest drawbacks to Mass Effect: Andromeda was the fact that, in terms of story beats, the developer recycled a lot from the first Mass Effect game. If the Reapers were to return to the franchise as the primary antagonist, the developer would be making the same mistake once again and effectively be telling the same story as the original trilogy. The threat players will face in Mass Effect 4 is still unknown and the Reapers will be a hard antagonist to top, but simply retelling that kind of story will result in a game that is less memorable and interesting as a result.
It's also worth noting that the Reapers are a kind of antagonist that is less interesting the more one learns about them. At the start of the trilogy, they were an unknown cosmic horror that would have been right at home in an H.P. Lovecraft story. By the time the third game ends—and thanks to the Leviathan DLC—players had a pretty good idea as to what the Reapers were and why they behaved the way they did. There don't appear to be any more mysteries to solve with the antagonists which, in turn, makes them a far less interesting presence. A new mysterious antagonist, however, would help keep things fresh and the fear levels high.
Ultimately, Mass Effect 4 should honor the Reapers' legacy but shouldn't reuse them as the primary antagonist. At this stage, very little is known about the upcoming game, if it will tie into Mass Effect: Andromeda, or even how long the game will take place after Mass Effect 3. But if the game wishes to establish its own identity, it would be for the best if it left the Reapers behind.
Mass Effect 4 is in development.