A story that spans across 3 games that all tie into each other, I love that each time, due to choosing different character types at the beginning, that all playthroughs are unique and the gameplay is different but familiar and close to home, regardless of play type.
The story itself drags you in to the fantasmigorical universe of Mass Effect. On your first playthrough, you think "das lot o aliens" then as you keep playing and playing, you get use to it, you don't even turn an eye to floating jellyfish or the hungry Krogans who wish to eat the Citadels nonexistent fish. It integrates a society onto you, it advances your own perceptions as you immerse yourself into this fantastic game.
The amount of Shepards I've created, played through and finished with, each time, I feel myself portraying Shepard, s/he becomes good or bad depending on what I desire them to do. It's a simple chemistry and it melds so well into our subconscious that we don't even know the levels of adventure we're submersed in.
With Mass Effect 4 on the brink, the only thing that ruins it for me is the inclusion of no Shepard. I still want to know what the *SPOILERS* Destroy ending means *SPOILERS* and if it'll ever be addressed by Bioware but I don't want to give up the hero I've controlled. I'm sure many people think this but Bioware needs to surprise us in a good way as they already did with 3's endings which brought massive uproar from fans, as you all probably know from coming here anyway.
4 tells us that we'll be controlling a new person in the same universe with no Shepard in sight. It could be based in the future or the present. I'd prefer it to be based in the future if I'm honest. If it was in the past then I'd feel that no matter what conclusion that I came to in this game, it wouldn't matter as all possible conclusions would eventually lead to the same outcome, the start of Mass Effect 1.
I guess I've gotten used to letting events massively change around me in this charming game series. It's a big thing for me to not have that overall control and I'd hate for it to be removed. But this is up to the creative writers at Bioware and regardless of this product, wish them the best with 4 and hope they bring in a better ending.
And of course, the cameos. Them sweet, sweet cameos.
