Even though “Mass Effect 4” is still a long time away – in fact, it’s not clear exactly when the game will be ready for its final release – BioWare seem to already have some long-term plans for the franchise, and they have a good idea for what they want to do after the fourth game has been released. However, it seems that the company isn’t considering a “Mass Effect 5” quite yet… instead, they’re looking at revisiting the first three games.
A recent statement by the studio gives a list of what they’d like to do for a possible release of a remastered trilogy. Of course, this is no official confirmation that this is actually BioWare’s plan after “Mass Effect 4” comes out, but it’s clear that the company is at least considering the release of the trilogy as an option, and they also have at least a rough idea about what they want to do with it.
In addition, the studio has expressed an interest in expanding the franchise with a further trilogy, which they will release on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. BioWare have been somewhat vague with regards to what the new trilogy will be exactly, although they did state that they want to release it shortly before “Mass Effect 4” comes out, as part of the pre-release marketing campaign for the game.
Speaking of the new generation of consoles, BioWare might also release the remastered editions of the first three “Mass Effect” games for the PS4 and Xbox One as well, which would give fans the perfect opportunity to play through the entire series, especially those whose first entry into the world of “Mass Effect” will be with the fourth game.
Some of the things that BioWare apparently want to do for an eventual release of a remastered trilogy include better resolutions, smooth framerates, high-resolution textures, and more detail in the game worlds overall. Aaryn Flynn, who made the statement, also said that the studio wants to pay specific attention to “Mass Effect 1”, as it has had particular issues with its visuals, not just related to the limitations of the hardware on which the game was released, but to internal constraints within the studio which have prevented them from releasing it as polished as they were hoping. It’s not clear whether the studio is planning to make any changes to the ending of the original “Mass Effect 3”, although they did release some updates to remedy the negative reactions that fans have had following the release of the game. If a remastered edition is released, it’s logical to expect that it would include those changes as well.
Call me weird, but I don’t really see the need for a remastered Mass Effect Trilogy… especially when that’s the current trilogy on the market right now! I mean, are the graphics really so outdated already that they need to be remastered?
Sure, Halo 2’s graphics were getting rather stale, especially when half the character’s faces looked like bricks to the point I occasionally questioned if I was playing Halo or just really high watching the lego movie. That being said, Halo 2 was released 3 years before Mass Effect even began. It just feels like a very cheap move to release one game, then pretend it’s been long enough to remaster the trilogy before it.