Not everyone celebrates the idea of a “Mass Effect” series. One of the former story writers from BioWare expresses his concerns.
A few days ago, it became known that Amazon is apparently in the final stages of securing a deal for a series based on the “Mass Effect” universe. Fans are excited about it, but there are also concerns. The idea of turning the games into a series makes one of the former story writers from BioWare “cringe”.
What was said? David Gaider spoke on Twitter about the plans for a “Mass Effect” series. Gaider was long one of the lead writers at BioWare, primarily responsible for Dragon Age at that time. In a tweet, he explained that the “possibility of an adaptation [into a series] makes him cringe a bit”.
The same thought applies to the possibility that Dragon Age could also eventually receive a series.
Why does Gaider think this way? Gaider elaborates further on what he means. From his perspective, the story of Mass Effect, concerning the games, is not easily adaptable into a series. This is mainly because Commander Shepard is essentially a “blank slate”.
Players shape their Shepard in the story – deciding whether he is a man or a woman or what decisions he makes. No matter how one might want to adapt this into a series – they will always run into people who have made completely different decisions for Shepard.
The entire game world and experience is tailored to each individual player through the many choices. It would be nearly impossible to satisfy long-term fans with a series focused on Shepard and his companions.
Mass Effect has to fulfill too many things at once
“Think about how MUCH the story depends on the companions. They are the cipher through which players receive most emotional experiences [in the game]. In themselves, the protagonists of Mass Effect and Dragon Age … well, they are quite boring. That won’t sell.”
He elaborates further:
Think about these companions. Think about how MUCH fans care about these characters. Now consider the fact that there is absolutely no way that a single story can treat them all equally. Think about the outcry of anger if companion X only gets a small cameo … or doesn’t appear at all.
However, Gaider also does not believe that the series is necessarily doomed to fail. He is excited that an adaptation is planned and simply hopes that Amazon will manage to avoid all the pitfalls and possible mistakes.
For the danger of turning the “Mass Effect” universe into just another mediocre sci-fi series, which in the end cannot excite either the fans of the game or new viewers, is enormously high.
In many ways, it would be wiser not just to simply adapt the story of the games. But consider this from the perspective of those making this TV series. They are not doing it just for the fans who already know the whole story and would be fine if it developed in another direction.
The much larger audience is those who know nothing about Mass Effect or Dragon Age.
In a way, the series has to answer the question: “What IS Mass Effect, anyway?” And that means they have to create something that is immediately recognizable as Mass Effect. That means reinterpreting something familiar in a way that fans don’t need and they will likely react negatively to it. Maybe. I guess we will see.
Do you share Gaider’s concerns? Or are you initially optimistic and believe that Mass Effect as a series can work – both for long-time fans and for a completely new target audience?
Other series have recently shown that game adaptations can be really good – like the worldwide success Arcane.
