Back in 2015, when I was making video reviews on YouTube, I released a video discussing my favorite video game series of all time, Mass Effect, and shared my thoughts and ideas as to how it could be turned into a movie. One of the things I mentioned in the aforementioned video was that I felt this series would be best created as a Netflix series. Little did I know that just over six years later, the folks at Netflix would actually take on the challenge of breathing new life into one of the greatest achievements in video games.
For those who don't know or would like a quick refresher, Mass Effect is a video game series that can best be described as, "what if Star Trek was created by Gary Gygax (the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons)?" You play as Commander Shepard, a decorated soldier in the Alliance Navy tasked with preventing the total destruction of the Galaxy at the hands of an ancient & powerful force known as The Reapers. With the help of your multi-species and multi-cultural crew, you and your special space ship, The Normandy, will travel the Galaxy, solve mysteries, resolve conflicts, and make allies or enemies along the way.
Aside from completely customizing your hero down to your choice of gender, the game's main attraction is the amount of freedom you are given to handle any situation thrown your way. Depending on your preferences, you can resolve a situation with diplomacy or with violence. In addition, you can make allies by offering help or ignore them for your own gains. Also, the gameplay is tons of fun! While you are still expected to be the hero of the hour, the way you become said hero rests entirely in your hands.
I should clarify that while I am incredibly interested in the prospect of new Mass Effect-related material, I am still ever so weary of such an outing. Mass Effect is not only my favorite video game series (as I'm sure I have stated countless times already), it is also an epic space opera with tons of rich mythology, textured three-dimensional characters (with a few exceptions), and a grand storyline that bring to mind the exceptional works of Gene Roddenberry and Isaac Asimov, with a little bit of Taylor Sheridon thrown in for some clever action. Mass Effect offers so much to explore that it is practically impossible to simplify and condense into a single feature film, let alone a thirteen-episode series, which is the going rate for most Netflix original shows.
Don't get me wrong! I'm not saying that it can't be done. In fact, what little information there is regarding the show's development seems to be more-or-less on the right track.
According to one article on thathashtagshow.com, the series will not follow the exact story or protagonist (Commander Shepard) of the game. Instead, the series is apparently intended to follow a completely different and original character whose story runs parallel to Commander Shepards. I like this idea because it doesn't require the whole audience to be familiar with the game's original story, nor does it require the story to conform to any particular expectation of direction. It makes little sense to make a film or series about the adventures of Commander Shepard when there can never be any one-particular universally accepted iteration, no matter what the Mass Effect wiki may claim.
To go over all of the countless ways a show like this can be developed would take far too long to summarize in a single blog entry. So, here is a shortlist of things I hope to see in the upcoming Mass Effect series.
I hope it will be animated.
Regular readers of my blog may remember my comments on the misguided western perception of animation as a medium strictly for children. The closest we got in recent years (arguably) to an animated series intended for adults that aimed to showcase the versatility of animation as a narrative medium was Tom Hanks' Electric City. With the mature-oriented themes and tone of the story, Mass Effect would be a perfect candidate to showcase how animation can be a more versatile medium. Also, it would allow for the show's budget to focus on proper voice casting and talented writing.
Stay within the realm of the first game.
The Mass Effect series includes three main games, one spinoff title, a few fan films, and one Anime style OVA. While the three main games are technically the primary storyline, each game still retains a single story on its own. Relegating the new show to the world as established in the first game is the best way to introduce new fans to the series. If you get too excited and bring in too much material for the audience to digest, they won't want to return for seconds. Ease this new promising audience into the story with only enough material from the first game to get them hooked. If they like what they see (which they likely will), they'll take the rest from there.
Include Tali Zorah!
Tali Zorah is, hands down, the best supporting character of the entire original trilogy and my favorite of the whole roster. She is smart, capable, funny, cute, compassionate, takes no crap from nobody, and kicks ass when needed! I don't care how you have to do it; just make it happen!
And that's about it. Whether or not this upcoming new show turns out to be of any notable quality may be up in the air at the moment. Even so, at the very least, it's still a Mass Effect project, and that's all I need to know right now. I hope you will be as excited to see this series as I will be when the first trailer hits.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.
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