November 7 is a holiday for Mass Effect fans, and this year even marks the 15th anniversary of the series. This time there was a scrambled teaser.
Whether every famous video game franchise needs its own holiday remains to be seen. In any case, Bioware usually uses November 7 to wish all Mass Effect fans a happy N7 Day.
At least for the time being, you should definitely take this day seriously. As we know, the team is currently working on a new part of the space saga. Last year Bioware already used this day to share a new artwork. This year, too, there are a few announcements (in a blog entry) – but some of them are even more cryptic than usual.
What does Bioware show in the new teaser?
Naturally, no Mass Effect holiday goes by without the community being thanked. This time Mike Gamble has the honour. He is the project director behind the current Mass Effect. So this is the man who is currently wearing the captain”s hat and steering Mass Effect towards its next big sequel.
You can read his exact words in the blog, mainly he thanks the community for their cohesion and passion. But most importantly, towards the end he refers to an “intercepted” message. It”s about the following video:
What are we supposed to do with it now? Well, at least the picture can be classified, even if it doesn”t look like much at first glance. However, in the end there is more to it than one might think. Here is a short analysis:
- What do we see here?
The picture shows a Mass Relay under construction. These ancient portals are necessary in the Mass Effect universe to travel throughout the galaxy. Without them, Galactic Society would be unthinkable. - What does this mean?
The fact that the Relay is being built presupposes destruction. Many fans interpret this fact as a hint that in Mass Effect 5 the red destruction ending becomes official. Here, Shepard destroyed all synthetic life using the relays, and in the process destroyed the relays themselves. It is unclear whether the relay in the picture is repaired or completely new. But the latter is more likely, since it has a new design. Incidentally, if the destruction ending is canon, then Shepard might have survived! That was already hinted at in the first trailer.
What are those sounds? Fans decode message
That was fast: After only a few hours, fans decoded the sound track of the teaser video and thus made a message audible. It”s a familiar voice we get to hear – Shadow Broker and Prothean expert Liara from the trilogy! She”s apparently talking to a Geth, which again raises some questions about the canon ending, since the machine species was supposed to be extinct after the Red Destroy ending.
Here”s what Liara has to say:
☻
Exactly. The council will be beside themselves. Although they should know by now not to underestimate the human spirit of resistance. It was her (unintelligible). How did we miss that?]
What does this mean? Apparently, in Mass Effect 5, humanity sets out on its own to repair the Mass Relays or build new ones, which again, the Council doesn”t like.
The artwork itself is by no means completely new. This drawing is basically just a revised version of an artwork that was already printed two years ago in a book celebrating Bioware”s 25th anniversary and that Mark Gamble shared on Twitter shortly afterwards. The only things that are really new now are the sound, the background, and the small font at the bottom left, which at least contains a reference to the first portal 314 used by humans.
Derek would cry if saw this. Is that a camera flash? The humanity! Here. have the real thing (from Bioware 25 book). Shinobi”s also wrong in his speculation though 🙂 https://t.co/vSmyQh1Toj pic.twitter.com/qWIDYbula0
– Michael Gamble (@GambleMike) December 12, 2020
What else is new?
In addition to the artwork, a lot of other announcements were made, albeit also rather small ones. Here is a short overview:
- N7-Shirts are now available for free in The Sims 4.
- New Mass Effect merch is now available at the Bioware Gear Store, Sanshee, Dark Horse and Volante Design.
- The Legendary Edition is currently reduced on Steam and in the EA App.
You can find out more about Mass Effect 5 in our big overview, where we have worked up more teasers for you.
