BioWare’s style of storytelling means a problem of canon is developing ahead of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and Mass Effect 4’s eventual release.
Choice has always been a hallmark of BioWare games, which brings its own issues when those games become long-running franchises with lore that builds on decisions made in previous games. This hasn’t been a problem in the past for BioWare, as its flagship IPs Mass Effect and Dragon Age have been limited to four and three games respectively, with most of the decisions made by the player having work-arounds through programs like the Keep or importing save game data into new playthroughs.
Though this strategy has worked well for BioWare thus far, the time has come for BioWare to start addressing canonicity in its games. Mass Effect 4 was announced with a teaser trailer and the news was well-received by fans since the future of the franchise had been uncertain in the wake of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem. Much to fans’ surprise, the teaser featured a destroyed Citadel, mass relays, and Reapers that were consistent with the Destroy ending of Mass Effect 3. That implies BioWare had canonized one of the endings of the trilogy, going against its previous policy of leaving decisions and world states up to the player.
The Impact Decisions Have on the Future in BioWare Games
With literal galaxy-ending effects for all three of the choices presented at the climax of Mass Effect 3, there is no possible way to accommodate all player choices for the future of the galaxy in Mass Effect 4. BioWare is going to have to break its own rule and make one choice canon over the others, and once it does that in Mass Effect, it’s going to be expected to do the same in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
Dragon Age may be easier to work around thanks to the Keep, but much of BioWare’s future regarding Dragon Age depends on the events of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. Solas’ destiny, the fate of the Veil, and what happens to the Evanuris are major, world-changing events that have the potential to shape Thedas just as much as destroying the Citadel and Mass Relays in Mass Effect would. That means a canon decision for this world state would need to be made by BioWare for any future Dragon Age games.
The Future of BioWare is Mass Effect and Dragon Age’s Choices
This is especially important because EA has pulled BioWare from Star Wars: The Old Republic, seemingly so that it can focus on Mass Effect and Dragon Age. For now, it appears that EA wants these two franchises to succeed, and so it will hopefully invest in BioWare developing these IPs beyond Mass Effect 4 and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. To do so will require some changes, even if that means making executive decisions and taking away some freedoms from the player in order to tell a coherent story.
It is possible that BioWare did not anticipate returning to the Milky Way after Mass Effect 3, and so it had no problems with writing the series into a corner with three choices that were impossible to accommodate. If this is the case, BioWare may be more careful with Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and the kind of decisions it gives players in terms of shaping the state of the world.
If decisions can be accommodated through the Keep, then player autonomy should be kept as much as possible, but BioWare shouldn’t be afraid of making a choice to move ahead if there’s no other options, as was the case with the Mass Effect 3 endings. At the same time, BioWare should be careful with the choices that it presents players as the “best” ending, as it’s a world state that could always be retconned in the future.
Mass Effect 4 and Dragon Age: Dreadwolf are in development.
