2024 has been a stacked year for seasonal anime releases. Apothecary Diaries, Frieren, Dandadan, and Blue Box are a short list of the anime this year that will last in anime fan's minds as we continue on to 2025, ready for new shows, new seasons, and new goodbyes to our favorite anime series as they finally achieve their endings. This summer anime season this year has been particularly great too; the second season of Oshi no Ko finally came out, but we also had brand-new anime adaptations like the shoujo romance Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian.

Jujutsu Kaisen took over major Japanese newspapers! Jujutsu Kaisen's last chapter was released in Shonen Jump back in September, with an unexpected turn of events right at the final moments of the series. As has been happening with many other endings, many fans harshly criticized the way Gege Akutami finished the story.

With Path of Exile 2 launching in early access on December 6, 2024, many players were able to get to the endgame portion of the action RPG, test multiple classes and skills, explore the various intricacies of the game's mechanics, and more. There is most likely a lot left in store for the game throughout 2025 and ahead of its full release, and it's equally plausible that many things may change over time to make Path of Exile 2 the best version of itself it can be. Although the game launched in a great state overall for an early access release, it already has some clear pain points, one of them being how its endgame approach completely shifts the premise of a slower and more methodical ARPG.

Room 237 is a documentary that plumbs the depths of The Shining, using various peoples voice-overs to guide the viewer through interpretations of Stanley Kubricks seminal 1980 horror film. I have no real thoughts on it; I love The Shining, but have avoided Room 237 mostly by nature of having heard about so much of it secondhand. But Pitch Perfect 237 is the sweet nexus of truth that we should all succumb to this holiday season, letting its light guide our way to 2025 and perfect goofs.I wont spoil it for you; its right there embedded at the top of the post, and I believe you came here not in search of some YouTube video to abate some holiday season slump, but rather, to really engage with something. And what better than a movie that pulls back the layers on acclaimed cultural juggernaut Pitch Perfect?Theres a side of this that you can pull on further. You can push past the gentle ribbing of Pitch Perfect 237 and onto its larger reflection of us, the way in which humankind likes to pull at something and find patterns so obsessively we dont know which way is up. Many have made the case that Room 237 goes too far as it fanatically drills down and down and down into a stone-cold masterpiece in an effort to find something more revealing than the engrossing madness already on the screen. The way brains can make connections so easily that you stop noticing when a hop and a skip becomes a jump and a leap. The way, if you follow a trail long enough, it all goes back to 9/11 conspiracy theories But no! We dont have to. Thats the beauty of Pitch Perfect 237, a film that gives itself over so cleanly to parody that we can give into our bursts of giggles. Whether youre familiar with Room 237s game or not, Pitch Perfect 237 is the six-minute, 48-second masterpiece to unwind with.

The Sonic franchise is the rare movie series thats gotten better and better with each subsequent sequel. In this case, the reason why is actually very simple: Each new one adds at least one new Little Guy. And the filmmakers have absolutely perfected making these Little Guys, translating them from their cartoony designs to realistic ones.Its a bit of a miracle, considering the initial Sonic design was so ill received the crew went back and redid all the animation. If director Jeff Fowler hadnt taken the movie back to the drawing board, its unlikely that we wouldve seen Sonic 2, let alone Sonic 3 (or Sonic 4, which is officially in the works for 2027). The first iteration of Sonic was frankly terrifying. It skewed too realistic, with small, beady eyes, oddly humanlike legs, and, most infamously, a set of individually rendered chompers. The backlash was so strong that Team Sonic (Movie) delayed the film five months to work on getting the Little Guy just right.And boy, what a makeover. Sonic is the perfect blend of cartoony and realistic. His fur is textured enough that I have a pretty good idea of how it would feel if I touched it, but his eyes and facial features are big, exaggerated, and just plain cute. (Also, his teeth arent so high-def that I could floss them.)With Tails (Colleen OShaughnessey) and Knuckles (Idris Elba) introduced in Sonic 2 and Shadow (Keanu Reeves) introduced in Sonic 3, that cast of adorable and perfectly calibrated Little Guys has only grown and each with their own unique personality. Tails bubbly and buoyant personality is the one youd most expect out of a cute talking animal sidekick, but he never gets grating. Meanwhile, Knuckles is incredibly serious and thinks with his fists instead of his brain. Shadow is angsty and full of vengeance. Its just damn funny for a character to plot murder when that character is a 3-and-a-half-foot-tall black hedgehog with red hair streaks.But what makes these movies absolutely wonderful is the fact that these adorable Little Guys are interacting with the human world. The sheer comedy of a seasoned general of a powerful military organization sitting down next to three brightly colored anthropomorphic creatures and very seriously offering them the launch card to a deadly secret weapon is unrivaled.As more Little Guys are introduced, theres always the chance that the movies tip too much into CG creature territory and lose the crackling juxtaposition of the real and cartoony. Yes, theres charm in having an entire animated movie of the Sonic characters. But personally, I think so much of the humor comes from seeing the grounded human characters interact with the brightly colored cartoons. Humor works best when theres contrast, and the goofier elements of the Little Guys and Jim Carreys outlandish Dr. Robotnik pop even more when the regular folks of Green Hills, Montana, have to adjust to having a bizarre group of alien creatures just walking around town. The regular human characters might be boring, but thats the point. Its like how the Muppets work best when they get to play off a few straitlaced humans. Its all about the balance of the zany and the mundane.And so far, Fowler has deftly kept that balance, and against all odds, each new movie has only been stronger and stronger. And with the post-credits scene teasing Amy Rose, as well as an army of Metal Sonics, there are even more Little Guys (gender neutral!) to look forward to, with new personalities joining the mix. Bring on Sonic 4. At this rate, its probably going to be a masterpiece.

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Garage 54 is renowned for its innovative approach to automotive builds, showcasing a remarkable ability to transform ordinary materials into extraordinary creations. This Russian team has previously demonstrated their ingenuity by turning gas struts from office chairs into suspensions and crafting pistons from plastic bottles. Their latest project continues this tradition, delivering another unique and satisfying build.Russian mechanics have long been celebrated for their talent in converting the mundane into the spectacular, and Garage 54 consistently raises the bar with each new endeavor. Their latest creation involves modifying a Fiat 124-derived Lada with an engine that seems to exist only in the realm of wild imagination.Designer: Garage 54The transformation of the Lada required extensive modifications to its engine compartment, originally measuring 18.5 inches. To accommodate the new steel frame, which now spans 51.8 inches, the team had to cut the front half of the vehicle, create a supporting frame, and weld the sections together to achieve the elongated structure. The exposed engine compartment enhances the Ladas Mad Max-like appearance, making it a striking presence on the road.Despite the vibrations from the chainsaw motors, which result in a less-than-smooth ride even on the most buttery highways, the experience offers a unique thrill akin to a full-body massage. Additionally, the smoke and noise generated by the engine ensure that the ride is anything but ordinary, keeping riders on edge and engaged throughout the journey.Completely hand built, this Ladas engine compartment bay measuring 18.5 inches had to be modified heavily to fit the new steel frame that now takes up 51.8 inches of space. The engine compartment is not concealed by the hood, thus making this Lada a true Mad Max-worthy ride. Considering the vibration of the chainsaw motors is not going to make it a smooth ride even on the most buttery freeways, one can take solace that they are going to be a good body massage alternative. Leave alone all the smoke and noise thats going to always keep the riders at unease.The project involved dismantling sixteen 58cc, two-stroke Hter BS-62 chainsaws from Hter Technik, a German manufacturer. Assembling these chainsaws into a functional engine compartment was a complex undertaking. The motors are mounted on a custom frame and operate in sync to rotate a metal rod connected to a toothed gear welded to the crankshaft.This intricate setup is linked to the gas pedal via several cables, ensuring smooth operation. Aside from the custom engine, the Lada retains standard components such as the flywheel, starter motor, and manual transmission, preserving a touch of its original character amidst the extensive modifications.The post 16 Chainsaws get converted into an oversized V16 engine for a Custom Lada Design first appeared on Yanko Design.

MacworldGot a new Mac? If this is the first one youve ever owned, a hearty congratulations! Your new Mac is easy to use and more powerful than its ever been. As easy as the Mac is to use, doing some things may not be instantly obvious (especially if you are coming from Windows). You owe it to yourself to make sure youre getting the most out of your new investment.Here are 12 things that you should do right away that will help you get started down the path toward being a Mac power user. Most of these will cost you absolutely nothing except a bit of time to set up.We have a separate guide to how to set up your Mac, we also explain how to move everything from your old Mac to your new Mac. And if you are moving to Mac from a PC read: How to move from PC to Mac.1.Enter your Apple Account and passwordFoundryTheres a good chance that even if this is your first Mac, you already use an iPhone or an iPad. Just like those other devices, your Mac wants you to enter your Apple Account and Apple Account password. Enter your Apple Account and password to connect to iCloud on your Mac when you first set it up or later through the Apple Account system setting.By connecting to iCloud with your Apple Account you can access all your photos, contacts, calendars, and much more on all your Apple devices without ever having to physically tether or sync them. Once all your Apple devices are linked this way youll also be able to take advantage of features like being able to cut and paste between devices, use a mouse and keyboard to control more than one Mac, and make purchases on the Mac App Store.Depending on whether you an an iCloud subscriber you will also be able to sync files to the cloud, including documents and everything you save to your Desktop. Because you can access everything in iCloud on any Apple device you own you wont need to have your Mac handy to edit a Pages document you are working on, for example. Find out about iCloud here: How to use iCloud and What is iCloud Private Relay. To find out how much iCloud costs read: iCloud storage plans and prices.If you havent created an Apple Account yet, now is the time to do so. Think of your Apple Account as your keys to the kingdom. For help read: How to create an Apple ID. You can get to your Apple Account by going to System Settings and clicking Apple Account at the top.2.Use the Help menuFoundryIf youve ever wondered why the Mac doesnt come with a thick owners manual explaining how it works and how all the apps work, wonder no more: That manual is actually built right into the computer. The Help menu is so obvious that most of us overlook it altogether. But we do so at our peril because it can be a huge help. The Help menu sits right there in the menu bar, and its contextual: Its contents will change depending on which app is open.Clicking on the Help menu will bring up a search field, table of contents, lists of shortcuts, and other helpful tips and step-by-step instructions, often with visual cues to show you which menus to click on and what menu items to select. Any time you get stuck in an app and dont know what to do next, click on the Help menu to get out of a jam.3.Get familiar with the Apple MenuFoundryThe Apple menu is in the upper left corner of your Macs screen. Clicking on the Apple icon gives you instant access to your Macs System Settings, the Mac App Store, and apps and documents youve recently opened (see Recent Items). You can also use the Apple menu to restart your Mac and shut it down.If an app misbehaves and stops working, the Apple menu also sports a special function thats worth knowing: Force Quit. Force quit will immediately quit a stubborn application, so you can restart your computer and get back to business.4.Get to know SpotlightFoundryBuilt right into macOS, Spotlight helps you quickly find things on your computer: documents, apps, images, contacts, maps, and files. Whats more, it can connect to the internet to search places like Wikipedia, news sites, movie listings, and much more. You can even use Spotlight to do calculations, like converting feet to meters or any sort of simple arithmetic youd rather trust to the computer.Spotlight lives on your Macs menu bar; its the icon that looks like a magnifying glass and clicking on it brings up the Spotlight search field. You can also open Spotlight by pressing Command and Space at the same time.Type anything into the search field and Spotlight will search for it. Once you get the hang of it, using Spotlight is the fastest way to launch apps, find documents, and do tons of other stuff on your Mac really quickly. Over the years its gained more and more features including robust web and image search, and quick actions like timers built right in.5.Customize the DockAppleThe Dock is that bar of icons that sits at the bottom of your Macs screen. Docks on new Macs will be filled with Apples own built-in apps, like Safari, Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Notes, but you can customize it to your liking.Your Dock is the most important part of your Mac Desktop, so spend some time getting it just the way you want.You can tailor your Dock to show you only the apps you care about. Dont use Maps or FaceTime? Drag them out of the Dock until the word Remove appears and let go. Use Mail more than anything else? Move it over to the left or right, instead. You can also add applications, folders, and files you need frequently simply by dragging them and dropping them into the Dock.To further reduce the space taken up by the Dock you can change the size of icons. To resize the Dock, click and drag on the bar that separates applications from folders and stacks. You can also change the size of icons, change the magnification of icons as you pass your cursor over them, turn off the bouncing animation, reposition the Dock to the left, bottom or right edges of your screen, and much more in the Desktop & Dock settings (macOS Ventura and later) or Dock & Menu Bar settings (macOS Monterey and earlier). 6.Personalize the way your Mac looksFoundryThis is your Mac. Make it look the way you want it to.Change the wallpaper: Right-click the desktop and select Change Wallpaper, or open System Settings and select the Wallpaper option. You can pick from the beautiful images Apple provides or choose one of your own.Customize the interface: Open System Settings and choose Appearance. You can choose things like highlight colors and whether your interface changes to light or dark depending on the time of day, and more.Change the screen saver: In System Settings > Screen Saver you can pick from tons of screen savers including some beautiful views of the Earth from the space station, underwater video, and more.Use Desktop Stacks: If you want to keep your Macs desktop tidy we recommend switching on Desktop Stacks, which will group all the files on your Desktop by category (you can choose whether they are sorted by kind, date, or tags.) To switch on Stacks click on the Desktop and choose View > Use Stacks from the menu. Now everything will be slotted into category-appropriate Stacks on your Desktop rather than your Desktop being cluttered by thousands of screenshots and files.7.Learn keyboard shortcuts and master gesturesFoundryApples user interface is set up with straightforward menus such as File and Edit, and most apps expose their major features through those menus as well. Need to print something? Just click on the File menu and select Print.But you can save yourself so much time by using keyboard shortcuts to do commonly used tasks instead. Instead of clicking on the File menu and selecting Print, for example, you can just hold down the Command key and press P. (If you are coming from a PC, mostly you will press Command where you used to press Control).Each app on the Mac has its own shortcuts. Opening Mac Help and searching for keyboard shortcuts will yield some references, we also recommend this article: These useful Mac keyboard shortcuts will help you work faster and smarter. If your new Mac includes a trackpadeither because its a laptop with a built-in pad, or you scored a Magic Trackpad to go with your new desktoptake some time to learn about the many gestures built into macOS, your new Macs operating system. One of the simplest ways to discover the various gestures available is right in System Settings. Once there, click on Trackpad. There, youll find three tabs worth of mouse shortcuts. Move the cursor over any of them, and youll get a video preview of how to trigger the gesture. Some may well improve your Mac computing experience; I, for one, love the three-finger double-tap on any word to bring up its definition.8.Visit the Mac App StoreFoundryThe Mac App Store is a convenient and safe way to download software for your Mac, all using the same Apple Account and password you use for Music and iPhone apps. There are thousands of apps available, including many that wont cost you a dime.The Mac App Store is much more important than just a way to download great new apps for your Mac. Its also how Apple distributes essential app updates. To keep your Mac running in tip-top shape and to keep everything as secure as possible, download updates when you see notifications from the Mac App Store or set apps to automatically update like on your iPhone.On a new Mac, its right there in your Dockthe blue circle with a stylized A inside it. The Mac App Store offers thousands of apps, and downloading and installing those apps is straightforward. Many apps are free; others require a payment, ranging from $1 to a couple hundred bucks. While you canand likely willfind plenty of apps outside the cozy confines of the Mac App Store, browsing it is a great way to discover interesting apps, read reviews, and get a sense of the Mac software marketplace.On the M-series Macs, you can even install iPhone and iPad apps. When youre searching, just click over to the iPhone & iPad Apps tab to download iOS apps right on your desktop.9.Start a backupTime Machine snapshots appear as volumes in the Finder. FoundrySetting up a backup is boring, un-fun, and doesnt involve playing with any cool apps or doodads. But your future self will thank You-Of-Just-Past-Christmas, and with good reason: Having a good backup solution now means you wont lose irreplaceable data later. Weve covered numerous ways to back up your Mac with minimal fuss. Pick at least one and get started. Trust me.Probably the simplest solution is to use Apples own backup solution, Time Machine, which is part of the Mac operating system (see How to use Time Machine to back up your Mac). All you need is a separate external storage device that you can buy for a relatively small investment (see: Best external SSD for Mac or best external hard drives if you want something a bit cheaper/bigger). Time Machine makes recovering from big problems easy because it keeps a snapshot of your Mac and makes it a breeze to migrate to a new Mac when the time comes to replace or upgrade your system.The time in Time Machine is a timeline that you can review, restoring files or changes to files that were made at the points where Time Machine saved its backups. Time Machine backs up your Mac hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly, so youll always be able to recover to that point in time. As long as that drive is connected your Mac will be backed up.To set up Time Machine follow these steps: Plug in an external drive. Open System Settings and go to General. Find Time Machine in the column on the right. Click on Options to set the backup frequency.10.Set up your emailFoundryAre you still accessing your email using a web browser, going to Gmail or Microsofts website to see what new messages you have? Theres a better way: Apple gives you a Mail app that can connect to almost every email service. Using the Mail app is a lot more convenient especially if you check multiple email accounts, and its well-integrated with macOSs other core applications, such as Contacts, Calendars, and Maps.Youll find the Mail app in your Dock on new machines. Click it to open it and follow the instructions to set up your account.11.Find your printerFoundryWith so many of us working from home these days, printers are a big thing in many of our houses. In the past, you had to download and install drivers and software, but the Mac makes it way easier to set up.All you need to do is to connect your printer to one of your Macs USB-C ports or connect to a Wi-Fi network. Open System SettingsClick on Printers & Scanners.Click on the Add Printer, Scanner, or Fax button. If your Mac recognizes the device (and it should), itll configure it as needed and download any applicable drivers from Apples servers.12.FaceTime a friend Video chatting might not feel like the future anymore, but its still a delight. No software makes it easier to start (or receive) a video call than FaceTime, which is built right into macOS. Find FaceTime in your Applications folder, or use Spotlight to search for FaceTime by typing in the first few letters of the apps name. Now all you need is the email address or phone number of another FaceTime user.Read more about using FaceTime on a Mac in our guide. 13.Check out Apple IntelligenceAppleIn macOS Sequoia 15.2, Apple Intelligence started to hit its stride with some new tricks, including Image Playground and ChatGPT integration. And thats in addition to the features introduced with macOS 15.1, including Writing Tools and a smarter Photos app.

The holiday season is a great time to upgrade your creative toolkit with incredible discounts on 3D modeling tools, graphics tablets, rendering software, and more. Weve gathered the best deals on top products to help you save while enhancing your workflow. Lets dive into this holiday gift guide for creators!3D Modeling, Rendering, and Animation ToolsDaz 3D Holiday SaleWhat: Selected products (3D characters and assets for DAZ Studio characters)When: Throughout the holiday seasonDiscount: Varies new deals each dayDesign Connected Architectural Model LibraryWhat: Access to architectural model libraryWhen: Until 26 DecemberDiscount: Get 4x prepaid credits for the standard priceSitni Sati FumeFXWhat: Smoke and fire simulation software for 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, and MayaWhen: Until 31 DecemberDiscount: 50%Kiri Innovations Kiri EngineWhat: 3D scanning app Kiri Engine (annual Pro subscription)When: Until January 2025Discount: 55%RandomControl Maverick Indie and Maverick StudioWhat: All productsWhen: Until 15 DecemberDiscount: 25% use code BF2024 at checkoutUModeler 3D Modeling Add-Ons for UnityWhat: UModeler, UModeler X PlusWhen: 20 November 11 December and 18 December 10 January 2025Discount: 50-70%Motion Capture and Character ToolsReallusion Product BundlesWhat: Includes iClone, Character Creator, and add-onsWhen: Until 31 DecemberDiscount: VariesReallusion ActorCore AssetsWhat: Motion-capture moves and 3D charactersWhen: Until 31 DecemberDiscount: Up to 50%Reblika Reblium StudioWhat: 3D character creation softwareWhen: 29 November 1 January 2025Discount: 50%KeenTools FaceTracker and FaceBundleWhat: Facial mocap plugins for Blender and NukeWhen: Until 31 DecemberDiscount: 30% use code FTB30 at checkoutGraphics Tablets and AccessoriesHuion Pen Displays and Graphics TabletsWhat: Selected productsWhen: Until 1 January 2025Discount: 10-20%Xencelabs Graphics Tablets and Pen DisplaysWhat: Selected productsWhen: Until 2 December and 10-25 DecemberDiscount: Up to 15%Rendering and Texturing ToolsFox Renderfarm Online RenderingWhat: Online renderingWhen: Until 31 DecemberDiscount: Coupons for future rendering on recharges over $100Vertex Library 3D Plants and TexturesWhat: All products (3D grass, bark textures)When: Until 20 DecemberDiscount: 50%Ready to Save Big on Your Favorite Creative Tools? From 3D modeling and rendering software to graphics tablets and mocap tools, these holiday deals are perfect for upgrading your toolkit or finding gifts for the creatives in your life. Act fastmany of these offers are for a limited time only!Happy holidays and happy creating!

Now thatDragon Age: The Veilguardis out of the way, BioWares full focus is now going to be on the next mainlineMass Effectinstalment. The studio announced back in 2020 that it had started working on the sci-fi RPG series comeback, and in the aftermath ofVeilguardslaunch, it has now become the studios next main project, especially with noDragon AgeDLC in the works. WhatMass Effect 5(or whatever it ends up being called) will bring is anyones guess, with little to nothing known about the game up to this point, but as with all fans of the series, we have a number of different, specific expectations that were hoping the game will meet. Here, thats exactly what well be going over.FLESHED OUT CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE MECHANICSPlayer choice and branching plotlines have ever been BioWare hallmarks, but the studio doesnt always deliver in this department. Many have expressed how de-emphasized such mechanics are inVeilguard,which, with the exception of its spectacular ending, doesnt focus on choice and consequence mechanics nearly as much as some of BioWares best games. Our hope is thatMass Effect 5will see the developer going back to its best. After all, the originalMass Effecttrilogy touted some of the best, most compelling, most talked about choice and consequence sequences in games to date, so wed sure love to see the next instalment continue that tradition.BETTER DIALOG CHOICESAmong other things,Veilguardhas criticized by many for its dialog choices, not only because often the different options presented to players are really just presenting the illusion of choice and ultimately leading down the same road, but also because, well, tonally, you cant ever really be anything more than mildly annoyed as a character. TheMass Effectseries revolutionized dialog choices with its wheel snappy writing, so itd be a shame to see its next entry have the same issues asDragon Ageslatest outing. Better and more effective dialog choices are going to be non-negotiable.THE RETURN OF PARAGON AND RENEGADEThe inherently binary nature of the original trilogys Paragon and Renegade system has been criticized by some over the years, but you can count us in the group thats desperate for it to return in the nextMass Effect. Being able to tailor Shephards personality with good and evil actions and watching the story respond and react was always a fascinating part of theMass Effectexperience, whileMass Effect 2and3took things even further with Paragon and Renegade prompts, some of which made for some of the series most iconic moments to date. Were desperate forMass Effect 5to emulate that.BETTER WRITINGBioWare has been stumbling in the writing department for a long time now.Mass Effect: Andromedawas a miss,Antheman even bigger one, whileDragon Age: The Veilguardswriting also has more than its fair share of critics. While it wouldnt be accurate to pain old BioWare as the masters of sharp writing,betterwriting was certainly something that we once took for granted with the studios games, though clearly, thats no longer the case. Wed be surprised ifMass Effect 5didnt retain plenty of the corniness that BioWare and its games have always been known for, but it definitely needs to be much better and more snappily written than the studios recent output.PLAYING AS ALIENSThis is something that fans have been hoping to see forever, but BioWare has yet to acquiesce. Shepard and Ryder were both human protagonists, but our hope is thatMass Effect 5willfinallylet us decide which race we want to play as. Being able to play as, say, a krogan, turian, asari, or quarian, and having the story and everything in it react according to which of them youre playing as is a dream thatMass Effectfans have had forever. Heres hoping the next game turns it into a reality.MEMORABLE COMPANIONSWe take this for granted withMass Effectgames, and really, with BioWare games in general, but we do, of course, have to mention this in aMass Effect 5wishlist. Credit where credit is due- this is one department where BioWare impresses even when its not at its best.Veilguardhas an excellent cast of characters, while evenAndromedahas its high points, even if it doesnt really hold a candle to the originalMass Effecttrilogys cast. WillMass Effect 5buck that trend? Its fair to say thats unlikely (or so we hope, at least).NEW ALIEN RACESMeeting new alien races and getting to learn everything there is to learn about their histories and cultures is always a highlight in any Mass Effectgame. In fact, the relative lack of new races inAndromeda, in spite of the game being set in a new galaxy, was one of its biggest letdowns. SeeminglyMass Effect 5is headed back to the Milky Way, but were hoping to see plenty of new races nonetheless. After all, theres a lot of our galaxy that is still unexplored or uncharted in theMass Effectuniverse, which means new alien races could pop up and become major players on the interstellar stage.FOCUS ON LESSER-KNOWN OLDER RACESOf course, its more or less a given that many of the series older, familiar alien races will be returning, and though we do obviously expect the likes of the turians, krogans, asari, and others to be major players, we would love for some of the previously less prominent races to become more important as well. From the drell and the colus to the hanar and the batarians and others, theMass Effectuniverse has plenty of alien races that we know plenty but noteverythingabout- and wed sure like to dive deeper into their lore.COOL NEW PLANETSA guarantee if there ever was one- assuming all goes well, of course. Getting to explore new planets is always a big part ofMass Effectgames, and wed love for that to be a highlight in the series next outing. Alien worlds, wondrous sights and sounds, and perhaps even varying traversal mechanics across different planets- were hoping to see at least some of it, if not all of it.NOT OPEN WORLDYes, we do wantMass Effect 5to wow us with its alien worlds, but one thing we donotwant is for the game to have an open world structure.That was one ofAndromedasbiggest failings, and not making the same mistake was one of the best things thatThe Veilguarddid, even with its issues. Wed love for the nextMass Effectto employ a similar structure- though we do hope that it features much better and less repetitive linear mission design thanVeilgaurd.PAST CHOICES CARRY OVERTheMass Effectseries was once built around the idea of letting players take their momentous, galaxy-changing decisions from one game into the next. Not being able to do the same withMass Effect 5would be a big miss, in our opinion. Allowing players to re-make a bunch of major decisions from past instalments at the outset of a new save should be the way to go for the next game, in our book. That does mean BioWare might have to pick a canon ending forMass Effect 3, but of course, ifMass Effect 5is actually set in the Milky Way, it might have to do that anyway.ANDROMEDA PLOTLINES RESOLVEDBioWare and EA deciding not to make anAndromedasequel meant a bunch of plotlines were left unresolved, but thankfully, project director Michael Gamble has suggested thatME5will tie those loose ends up. How that will happen and whether or not we can expect to see the Andromeda and Milky Way plots maybe even converging remains to be seen, but one way or another, resolution for all previous threads seems like something of a necessity.ANDROMEDA-STYLE COMBATMass Effect: Andromedastumbled in a number of significant ways, but there were some areas where it was an unequivocal win. Combat, for instance, is a department wherethe game deserves all the props.Mass Effect 2and3were no slouches with their cover-based third-person shooting either, but the level of mobility and flexibility thatAndromedabrought to the table took things to a whole another level. Hopefully, the next game will be similar.EXTENSIVE PROGRESSION AND CUSTOMIZATIONMass Effect games have very rarely had universally beloved progression and customization mechanics- either they were too streamlined, like withMass Effect 2, or too scattered and lacking in cohesion, like with Andromeda. Mass Effect 5 needs to strike a better balance- allow players to craft their builds with actual flexibility, with control afforded over weapons, gear, abilities, and what have you, and ensure that it doesnt feel bloated the way it often does with RPGs of this kind.ANOTHER EXCELLENT HUBBioWare games deliver some of the best hub locations youll ever see, from the Normandy in theMass Effecttrilogy to the Skyhold inDragon Age: Inquisitionto the Lighthouse in the much more recentVeilguard. Theres little doubt in our minds thatMass Effect 5will keep that going- or so we hope, at least.