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.