In a game about fighting different aliens in space,Mass Effectmight not always have an explanation for certain parts of the story. For some players, explanations might not be necessary, because they are just having a good time without being too concerned about any lore. For others, the different plot holes and the idea of how realistic of an idea something is might feel haunting.
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Whether you are someone who wants to know what details they might’ve missed or someone who knows that they can’t be the only one to ask questions about these games, here are some things in theMass Effectseries that don’t make a lot of sense.
10Who Has Time For Side Quests?
When it comes toMass Effect, there arelots of side quests to get through, and some seem more worth the player’s time than others. However, in the grand scheme of things, Shepard and Ryder really shouldn’t have time for any extra tasks when the fate of the universe is at stake.
Yes, the side quests can be fun, and some of them do influence the overall story, but really, why isn’t there a sense of urgency in the game? Maybe fewer people would’ve died from the Reapers attacking if there hadn’t been an option to go around to every store and say it’s Shepard’s “favorite store on the Citadel.”
9Why Isn’t The Lazarus Project Used More?
Technically, The Illusive Man owns everything surrounding the Lazarus Project, but once he’s taken down, couldn’t the project be used again? It was built to save Shepard inMass Effect 2, but why would a super expensive, time-consuming project only be used once?
The opportunities for the project’s use that were missed could’ve changed a lot. Anyone that died in the Suicide Mission possibly could’ve been saved. There are even some instances where the Lazarus Project could’ve been used on characters fromMass Effect: Andromeda. Since it takes place afterMass Effect 3, who has that equipment now? Why isn’t it being used?
8Why Does The Lazarus Project Even Work?
From what can be pieced together in the lore ofMass Effect, Shepard’s body was recovered after they diedin space, then it took two years for Cerberus to put Shepard back together. In all that time, how would Shepard’s body not be either putty or decomposed enough that it’d be even harder to repair it?
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Yes, Cerberus did replace some parts of Shepard with cloned tissues, biotics, and other things they had to whip up in their lab. Still, the timing seems like it would make the chances of reviving Shepard nearly impossible, and it seems even less unlikely that Shepard’s brain would survive that long to be able to give them the same personality and skill.
7Why Do Vehicles Come & Go In The Series?
Most of the time, when players see vehicles inMass Effect, they’re transporting Shepard and their team during a cutscene. However, players used to be able to drive around in the Mako in the firstMass Effectgame. It wasn’t always the easiest mode of transportation to use, but it could be fun at times when driving through new areas.
ForMass Effect 2andMass Effect 3, there aren’t any vehicles that the player can control unless players get some DLC. There’s just a whole lot more running around. Then, inMass Effect:Andromeda, players get to use the Nomad in the base game, and they can even upgrade it this time. Why the sudden change?
6What’s Up With Miranda & Her Family?
Miranda explains a little bit of her history when she says that she was created artificially by her father to be the perfect human with his own DNA. However, Miranda also says that her father has other daughters, and her father seemed to just want a dynasty by creating her.
If this is the case, wouldn’t her infertility prevent the idea of her father having a dynasty, if she even wanted kids at all? Also, if she’s supposed to be perfect, then why does her father keep trying again to artificially create daughters, all while trying to hunt down Miranda when she runs away? It’s one complicated family dynamic.
5How Do Reaper Motives Make Sense?
This has been a point of frustration for some fans of the series, as it’s hard to logically explain sometimes.The Reapersbelieve that it’s inevitable that synthetics will be created by organics (like humans), and thatsynthetic beingswill eventually destroy organic life that created them.
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So, the Reapers have a solution: just harvest all organic life to “preserve” it in their bodies and leave room for new life to develop. Since Reapers are a mix of synthetic and organic life, wouldn’t they face this “inevitable” future at some point? Why do they even care what other species are doing? It brings up too many questions and not enough answers.
4How & Why Do Renegade Points Cause Scars & More?
When Shepard is brought back to life inMass Effect 2, those playinga Renegade pathwill see that making those decisions causes Shepard’s face to change, creating scars and even bright red eyes to appear. The main question is how would the Lazarus Project cause this to happen?
Plus, why does the facial reconstruction surgery work to keep the scars away when players choose it on the Normandy, but the original facial reconstruction from the Lazarus Project doesn’t do this? Why would the scars decrease at the start of an imported save inMass Effect 3and then continue to come back?
3Why Do People Care More About Shepard Working With Cerberus Than Shepard’s Death?
A fairly common occurrence that happens when Shepard reunites with oldsquadmatesinMass Effect 2is that a lot of them seem more concerned with Shepard working with Cerberus rather than the fact that Shepard is alive after being dead for 2 years. One would think that the reconstruction of Shepard would be a more important talking point, but sometimes it only gets a quick mention compared to the Cerberus issue.
Yes, Cerberus isn’t great, and everyone knows it, but if this kind of scenario happened in real life, it would probably take more time to wrap one’s head around how someone is alive after 2 years of being dead rather than worrying about who they’re working for.
2How Do Biotics Work?
Biotics have a weird history, as they occur when a fetus is exposed to element zero, which is a whole other complicated topic. However, players can learn throughthe lorethat the Asari are naturally born with biotic abilities, and some other species can get it from this element zero exposure.
This raises some questions, like why are the Asari born with these abilities and nobody else is? If players choose to gain biotic abilities inMass Effect 2through the Lazarus Project when they didn’t have those abilities before, how would the Lazarus Project make this happen when Shepard wouldn’t have been exposed to element zero as a fetus?
1Why Does Shepard’s Clone Exist?
When Shepard was reconstructed using the Lazarus Project, apparently Cerberus thought it would be a good idea to keep extra pieces of Shepard in case they needed them. How exactly did they decide to get these extra pieces? By making a clone of Shepard and keeping it in a tank for safekeeping, of course.
While this is already a somewhat weird explanation for the clone’s existence, what’s even stranger is that Cerberus didn’t think that something like the clone being woken up and/or stolen would happen. Couldn’t they have planned ahead and maybe give each extra organ its own kind of container rather than making a whole other Shepard out of them that could come alive?
