Andromeda DLC and Sequel Discussion (Spoilers)

Well 77 hours and 98% complete which means its time to discuss whats coming next.

Would love to hear what others have to say on this topic but for now here are my initial thoughts.

I expect three major DLC’s which is in line with past Bioware titles. .

We are going to see the Quarian Ark, probably in the June/July time frame in conjunction with the release of the next Mass Effect novel Annihilation (I suspect Annihalation refers to what is happening in the Milky Way Galaxy around the time the Ark leaves and the potential panic it will cause in Andromeda).  Real potential there, because each of the species aboard is going to have unique needs and challenges. I also suspect based on how things ended you will also have a side mission to help set up Meridian as an actual colony as part of this expansion. 3 characters you are introduced to at the end of the Chapter seem like the likely quest givers. This is could be solid post game content.

The second DLC might be a toss off with a focus on social content like the Citadel expansion in ME:3. It could have you delve more into the Remnant or add a new character. I don’t see it touching any of the major points above. Though the Turian, Salarian and Asari still don't have their capital's in Andromeda so maybe something along those lines. This could likely come out around November. It will come out with the Novel Initiation. The novel's name though suggests a number of other possibilities so who knows.

The third DLC which probably won’t come out for close to a year, I expect to be similar to Arrival in ME:2. It is going to lay some foundation for the next game. This is the one where we may see them deal with your Mom. She is a powerful story telling device because she is bound to have a lot more information about the Benefactor or the lead up to the Initiative both through her time with Alec and her role in creating the SAM implants.

Sequels
There is going to be a sequel to this game. A great article (link below) talked to the developer who mentioned a lot of the stuff above being part of the meta-story for the saga and it makes a lot of sense. I see two ways a sequel could play out:

Option 1: The Ryder Continuity

The next game will take place 5-10 years after the events of ME:A. This is about the amount of time required for you to see the full consequences of the decisions you made in ME:A. Right now the colonists are heavily focused on building their settlements and getting established. Members of your team are already being offered new jobs, and will likely disperse. This is also likely the time it will take for all the colonists to be unfrozen and settled and for the hidden conspiracy at the heart of the Initiative to take form. It also gives 10 years for Meridian to be researched and for an efficient travel technology to be discovered which will give them easy access to other parts of the massive Andromeda Galaxy ala Mass Effect Relay. The Ryder twins are in their early to mid 20’s so 10 years won’t do much. It will give players a chance to visit the colonies they founded, and see Andromeda take shape. Given that Heleus Cluster was basically an artificial construct including all life, it gives the Bioware the chance to create some real aliens (I for one would love to see them encounter a primitive race and all the moral decisions that would involve). Some of his companions will be available, others (Vetra probably, Cora, Gill, and maybe even Liam) won’t be available so it will be time for some new companions. The others will appear.

Still not really a trilogy, as it does have the same characters but if each story is stand alone with interwoven elements then its not really a trilogy.

Option 2: The future.

Let me be honest, I love my Ryder. But If you want to really break the mold Bioware could really shake things up. Move 30 years (or more) into the future. My favorite companion makes this work, SAM. The introduction of SAM and his abilities means he can share information and memories with players. To me he is the key plot device that gives Bioware a LOT of options. In this vision, the Ryders become NPC’s and you play as a Heleus Born citizen. You have entered the Pathfinder program out of awe of the stories you grew up with in school. The program isn’t as active as it once was with Meridian established and the colonies built and no one wanting to look past the Heleus Cluster. The Ryders could be your trainers or could be hero’s that disappeared. The fund thing with this approach is that you could potentially have an opportunity to play as a non-human (I totally get from a logical standpoint why you always play as a human but just saying it would be cool) but playing as an Asair, Turian, Salarian or even Krogan Pathfinder would be cool. You get to see what Ryder helped build, meet the original companions who are now these heroic figures. Characters like Drack and PeeBee and Lexi could join you because of their long life spans, others would not be an option but could still be interacted with.

In both options I focus on them moving into the future. Throughout my play through I noticed a lot of veiled references to the future, and possible future events. In some cases they emphasized actual time periods being 5, 10, 30 years. I felt like their was a foreshadowing element that required the next game to happen father down the road than the previous series. With SAM they could go 100, 500, or even 1000 years in the future and still create linkages so its pretty cool tool but I suspect we are looking at 5, 10, 30 years.

One way or another I expect CERBERUS to play a role. I loved how they handled Cerberus and the "Benefactor" in this game. Just like in ME1 it was just mentioned or alluded to. The Jian Garson murder mystery reminded me of the Admiral in ME1 who sent you on quests and got murdered by Cerberus. I still think given the lack of family background that Cora is going to have a relationship to Illusive Man. Now the Benefactor could be a Cerberus agent, a Illusive Man clone, or something like that. Given most of the people in MEA are still frozen it makes sense the conspirators haven't played a bigger role. I also suspect Director Addison may be more involved with them.....

Things I would like to see in future games:
1.) I liked the open world, but you could scale them down slightly and increase the number. Plus have more one off areas.
2.) I love the scenes when you fly from planet to planet BUT do more to reward players. Like in the original maybe have a few side quests hidden on random worlds, like dealing with a pirate who is attacking traders (Andromeda Viability points).
3.) The whole colonization concept was awesome. It dragged a bit on Eos because of to many unrelated side quests. Eladeen to me seemed to hit the right note (I also skipped the scan this thing at those ruins missions on this planet). The Water smuggler, Krogan, all of it played together well. I loved this aspect, if this continues great.
4.) More diverse Alien races (the Angara made total sense within the concept they had developed for the Heleus Cluster but I think we can be more diverse in the rest of Andromeda). Have some who are technologically advance but throw in one that is relatively primitive.
Like I said ME:A did its job. It laid a pretty interesting foundation which opens itself to many different possibilities to move forward.