TheMass Effectseries has always held a special, and often divisive spot in fans hearts. BioWares sci-fi RPG saga blew up with its first game back in 2007, and its sequel took the franchise to bigger, more mainstream heights. In the years since that games release, its cast a long shadownot just over its own franchise and creator, but the larger RPG space, particularly those from western developers. Mass Effect 2first released on January 26, 2010, and its a sequel of two different types. Narratively, it continues Commander Shepards storyafter theyre killed by aliens called the Collectors, Shepards revived by the human supremacist group Cerberus and told to build a team to investigate abductions of human colonies that may be connected to the growing Reaper threat. But the sequels also a soft gameplay reboot: the original Mass Effectwas an RPG dinged for being an occasionally awkward third-person shooter, so BioWare strived to make the combat feel better. That meant streamlining and trimming down some of the first games fat, so no planet exploration in the Mako, and Shepard regenerates health and uses ammo for their guns rather than heatsinks. Those changes didnt stopMass Effect 2from becoming a critical and commercial darling, or from being considered one of the best games ever. But it did lead to fans of the first lamenting how BioWare had really made an action game that happened to feature RPG elements rather than an action-RPG. The studios shift to immediate, real-time fights had been coming for a while now, starting with Jade Empire, and has continued up to last yearsDragon Age: The Veilguard;Mass Effect 3smore action than RPG to the point Shepard has a dodge roll and melee finishers, and uses workbenches to mod out their guns. 2017sMass Effect: Andromedatried to split the difference between its series gameplay contrasts by keeping and expanding upon the sequels action focus, while also bringing back the originals stats and passive skills through its Profiles system. Whatever else one thinks about Andromeda, itmight be the most RPG the franchise had felt in a decade. BioWare/EA What is an RPG anymore? Its been asked about the genre over the past decade as several big names in the space have either faded, decreased in output, or pivoted. Look no further than Final Fantasy: mainline titles in Square Enixs flagship franchise have gradually shifted from turn-based combat to full-on action, like 2024s Final Fantasy VII Rebirthor 2023sFinal Fantasy XVI. While Final Fantasy VIIs remakes have pause-and-prep combat that allow for some tactics,Final Fantasy XVIis character action through and through, further helped by the pedigree behind it. Combat director Ryota Suzuki previously worked as a designer on CapcomsDevil May Cryseries, which is apparent almost immediately upon playing. You can also look at Stranger of Paradise,an AU prequel to the first Final Fantasy. The underrated 2022 game was made by Team Ninja, which previously made the NiohandNinja Gaidenfranchises, a pedigree more than apparent in Strangersclass-switching, melee-focused combat. The line between action games and RPGs became greatly blurred in the past decade thanks to triple-A action games borrowing RPG elements that often feel tacked-on or unneeded. Theres also the matter of linearity: the Mass Effectsequels pulled back from full branching storytelling to provide players with outcomes that varied depending on choices they previously made, either earlier in the game or in prior installments. While it was more manageable for the developers, this method has its drawbacks. With Veilguard, BioWare brought over three specific events from Dragon Age: Inquisition for players to base the world state around, which reflected the decade-long gap between installments and didnt fully sit well with players. Western-made RPGs like BioWare titles and Baldurs Gate 3 are famously built around choices, a promise which can be a double-edged sword: players will always hold Mass Effect 3s ending against BioWare, andAssassins Creed Odyssey,that franchises second go at being an action-RPG, drew controversy for a DLC that funneled players toward starting a family, even when their character may not have wanted to or was romantically inclined toward their own gender.Not all of this spawned directly fromMass Effect 2srelease, but that game helped set the foundation for how the genres transformation. For better or worse, publishers wanted to court mainstream western audiences however they saw fit, and chased any attention-grabbing trend. The west liked shooters, multiplayer, zombies, and crafting, so developers have spent years making games built around one or all of those ideas. Its only been fairly recently that things are swinging back in favor of Japanese developers, particularly with RPGs. Atlus Personafranchise has been grown bigger and bigger thanks to various Persona 4 follow-ups and re-releases or remakes for the likes ofPersona 3and4, not to mention the developers newest title, Metaphor: ReFantazio. Similarly, SegasLike a Dragonfranchise pivoted to a turn-based RPG style with 2020s soft reboot, which reflects new lead Ichiban Kasugas love for theDragon Questfranchise. And despite its main franchises devotion to real-time brawls, Square Enix also hasnt completely abandoned its turn-based roots; its still got the long-running Dragon Questseries, the very good Octopath Travelergames, re-releases of the originalFinal Fantasies, and various HD2D titles. BioWare/EA As for western developers? Thats a little harder to determine. Some, like CD Projekt Red or Larian, have leaned more toward immersive sims or tabletop games for their recent role-playing ventures. Meanwhile, others seem ready to play their hits in new ways (see Obsidian with AvowedandOuter Worlds 2) or try at being a successor to newer masterpieces, like the manystudios spawning out of Disco Elysiumcreator ZA/UM. And then there are the anomalies, games we have some idea of, but nothing quite so concrete yet.What will Fablebring to the conversation under Playground Games direction opposed to Lionheads? What has Bethesda learned from the ultimately muted reactions to Starfieldthat makesElder Scrolls VIand eventually (maybe)Fallout 5feel like something different?Or, as this relates to BioWare, how RPG will its nextMass Effectbe after the series has moved away from, and then back to, its roots? This upcoming installment is led by several franchise veterans, but RPGs have evolved. For all the flak Andromeda took, it also made attempts at evolving parts of the original games thatd already been dated, like the conversation wheel and the binary Paragon/Renegade system. The team behind that game knew Mass Effect needed to grow, and that mindset is needed as the series attempts a genuine return. With the Legendary remasters out, the series cant play its own hits and act like the last decade of RPGs, or its last game, didnt happen. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.