Rumour: BioWare May Have Just Confirmed the Return of Commander Shepard in the New Mass Effect

So, the Destroy Ending is the canon one, uh.

I'm actually not too surprised. I won't spoil the ending for those that haven't played but it was done in a way that with some creative writing, Shepherd's fate could be undone.

Regardless if Shepherd is the main character you play as, this is one of my most anticipated games in development.

Shepard was at least an interesting character and had the right look. I’d be quit happy for him to return as lead.
The male character (can’t comment on the female as I never used her) in Andromeda was a wet blanket who looked like he had no business being the leader of the expedition. That was just one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy Andromeda so hopefully they leave him and his gang stranded in another galaxy.

So Destroy is canon then as its the only one she can survive in. Hopefully we can import are Legendary saves over.

"Tell us another story of the shepherd", said the Bioware execs who were scared of change

I thought it was obvious we'd be returning with Shepard, one of the first art pieces was of Liara and a few other squad mates walking towards a Mako like vehicle. Also in the best possible ending of ME3 the "destroy ending" the final post credit cutscene is of them searching through the wreckage of the weapon to destroy the reapers and we clearly hear Shepard breathing. Shepard is the lifeblood of the Mass Effect series and Andromeda was proof of that. A great example from another series would be Halo 5, you spend the majority of that game NOT playing as Master Chief and look how that turned out, it was the worst in the series. Always stick with your routes Mass Effect, unless you can actually make a protagonist on par or greater than Shepard which is a tall order.

I think we can all agree Shepard is awesome but as others have said, are writers and companies incapable of making new characters anymore?

You could import your save from the Legendary edition and have the deeds of Shepard written into the new history.

He saved the galaxy, let they guy rest.

Wait, wasn't the action in the new game supposed to be happening some many years after the trilogy? And Liara's presence in the game was explained by the fact that Asari live for hundreds of years?
I guess they could clone Shepard or bring him back another way...

Anyway, I too think that bringing Shepard back for another trilogy is not a very good idea. They should definitely go with a new crew.

Can't keep a good Commander down!

@WallyWest It is the most logical ending out of the three TBH. The other two only work in favour of the reapers. Assimilate and control ending would only end in the reapers ending the "cycle". In the "Assimilate" ending there is evidence that past civilisation tried to do the same option but inevitably failed and in the "Control" ending nobody could possibly believe that the reapers could actually be controlled. The creators of the Reapers were the first race they enslaved and turned into their main reaper ships and the bulk of their fleets, so sadly Destroy is the only plausible option, yes they'd lose the majority of reaper technology but, like the whole trilogy is based around it is about survival.

@R1spam Scared of change? Um the last ME game was completely new.

@GorosBat Yeah Destroy always felt like the intended ending, Control only works for a Renegade character.

@Shinnok789 I'm shore they will make some zany reason for it, maybe cryo sleep? I'm sure one of the species would have the technology to create that. Even when they found Shepard's body it would have fallen from space, so we'd be in a Mass Effect 2 situation, but the Lazarus project and Cerberus records would have probably been wiped by the end of Mass Effect 3. So from my perspective it would take years, even decades to redevelop a way to bring Shepard back again. It took The Illusive Man countless resources and research, him being the most powerful man in the universe to bring back Shepard. So presuming "The Council" being the council we all know and hate for never doing anything (sounds like real life politicians). They'd probably have 1000 ethical issues in bringing him back unless it was absolutely necessary and I'm guessing this threat will be the reason for him coming back and the beginning of a new Mass Effect Trilogy. Talking about these theories only has me more hyped!

Hell YES! Commander Shepard is a mans man!

I don't really like that.
Any sequel that diminishes the impact of the original is bad.
Shepard is dead. Let him die and create another story.

There's never gonna be a decision that unites everyone.

Bring in new characters (see the Ryder twins or Gotham Knights/Suicide Squad as examples) and you'll get a 'meh' reaction.

Conversely, keep the same old characters and people will be begging for something new and different, as we're seeing in this comment section.

There's no right answer for me. The crucial thing is that it's well written and properly takes into consideration the choices of the previous games.

Stop murdering ME over and over. Just let it stay dead...god.

as long as the story goes in a new direction and doesn't just replace the reapers with something else and just do the same story again like so many franchises do.

@Atreus97 Well said. 100% agree.

@meistergeister Uh, my Shepard is a snarky ginger lesbian in point of fact.

@WallyWest I LOVE going renegade male Shepard as honestly the majority of the choices that are Renagede - not curing the genophage are the most logical in the grand scheme of things when you take into account of saving the galaxy. I like changing it up for squad members depending on each character, for example I always go paragon with Tali. Even if I'm going paragon in Mass Effect 2 I can never NOT electrocute the eclipse aircraft engineer or NOT push the mercenary off the buildingin the Thane loyalty mission. But, back to the ending, after completing absolutely everything in Mass Effect Legendary Edition, 110 hour playthrough on Legendary completing every possible thing with all the DLC, learning the origination of the Reapers in the Leviathan DLC going through every dialogue option with the leviathan, you will find out the true nature of the Reapers. They do this "cycle" 1000s of times no matter what, even if there is a civilisation that can beat them they will overthrow them with deceit, making there no way to control or assimilate with them, as the "assimilate option" is a lie. So the only real option no matter how you play your Shepard should always be "Destroy" and will always be the cannon ending if you take into account all the information you're given throughout the trilogy.

Plot twist: Shepard is star child, 100,000,000 years in the past.

I love that pic of Shepard used in the header.

@Gbarsotini get your galactic military readiness above 8000 and youll see the real ending 👍

Yes! welcome hack john we gona wreak havoc across the galaxy again. gotta get the band back together!
i so cannot wait
bought soon as it is up for pre-order
thank you bioware 💓

Playing the first game and it's really a lackluster game. Feels like a ps2 game and I heard it had some adjustments... so it was even worse?

Maybe the second one is better.

People didn't 'gel' with a new Lead, so go back to the one that was 'successful'...

How to do that when the Lead is 'dead' - Prequel!!

@RevGaming

The first Mass Effect is definitely shoddy by modern standards. If it had had a PS release, then yes, it probably would have been a PS2 game. It only released on PS3 when the trilogy version first came out.

Mass Effect 2 was the first to release on PlayStation. And the gameplay is light years ahead of the original.

Doing the Feros (ExoGeni) mission I once got the Mako wedged under a bridge. Had to start the whole mission from scratch.

I am willing to forgive the first game it’s flaws - simply because of the story and the characters. Which is probably some of the very best in all of gaming.

Mordin : “I am the very model of a scientist salarian!”

@Matthewnh I like the lore of it, but the voice acting or the pace of the dialogue seems a bit... robotic a lot of times. The Gameplay is the worst thing about it. Idk how it got a 90 on metacritic, especially with the other games that came out that year. 2008

A sure sign of how creatively dead the next Mass Effect will be, Andromeda had problems but at least they took risks and built a new galaxy that had potential to be much better in the next iteration

Can we get a PS5 upgrade of the Legendary Edition so I can platinum them all again as well?! I’d pay for an upgrade right away in advance. Answer my prayers Commander FemShep 😭😭

It always seems strange to me when anybody refers to Shepard as a 'He'. I know it's cannon but I've always played a femshep so it just seems wrong.

I wish I could say that I’d like to move on to a new crew, but I hated the ending of ME3 so much that I’m fine with them taking a mulligan. I know not everybody feels that way, and I respect that.

Actually the final line of this article sort of sums up my feelings.

Despite your player choices seeming more or less incidental - I did not think that ME:Andromeda was all that bad. Most of the “hate” directed at Andromeda was probably because they actually tried something new.

But how much faith have we got left in Bioware, though?
After Anthem?
After most of their writers seem to have left?

Please, I anxiously await both a new Mass Effect, and Dragon Age 4.

But, please, don’t screw this up.

Remember the old man telling his grandson about the story of Shepard and his violent sex adventures at the end of mass effect 3? What was that all about?
Also who calls their grandson "my sweet" that was super weird.

@RevGaming mass effect the 3 games are one! rage war across the galaxy!!!!

@ChopperCampbell

If memory serves, the character in Andromeda (Ryder) was never meant to be the leader.

Ryder’s dad dies - and the mantle of leader is sort of thrust upon the younger Ryder - not by choice.

Scott (or Sara) Ryder seems to grow into the leader role, as the game progresses.