Mass Effect 5 'The Return of Shepard'

No as Shepard's story is done and trying to bring the character back in a new game (that is not a reboot) would just appear as a desperation move.

Playing as Alec would have required gutting a lot of what we actually had in his character for sake of being able to have options, unless BioWare went all in and simply got rid of dialogue options and left everything fixed to maintain integrity of the character type. Of course, I wouldn't have purchased the game at that point since it would be anathema to what I get into the ME and DA games for.

Maybe at the time of MEA but immediately post-ME3 he's alive and well - or more likely recovering from his injuries.  At least, that's my headcanon and it's worth as much as yours.

Playing a single character through the series is overrated.

It's my post-war headcanon that he's retired with his LI.  I don't see how that's especially about what he does in the bedroom.  I definitely didn't bring up the bedroom.  Of course, the retirement could be pushed back after a future game in which Shepard appeared.  Or even come out of retirement.

My ME: RoS game would have him helping the galaxy fight the menaces that have arisen in the post-war chaos.  He'd be as a Spectre, though, an answer only to the Council, not the Alliance or random people on the street who lost their kid's father's picture in a warehouse on Illium.

I would like Shepard to be in ME5, but only if the reveal for Shepard being alive is like either of these.


Just make it so.

I prefer Shepard, but, he/she's done. The problem with Ryder was weak writing and characters all-around - THAT can be fixed. Oh, and lack of stellar music like in the OT. THAT also can be fixed.

I'd love to see the series return to the Milky Way at some point, but not with Shepard as the main character.

Three games is enough for any protagonist. 

Alright, here's my take.

No. Not until Bioware completely remasters* the trilogy. Then it would have to contain all the corrections*, Paragon/Renegade, war assets that matter that would help force an ending where the Geth and EDI have a chance of life, and stay true to the promise of a pick-your-path adventure with an option to save Shepard. Then hell yes. Otherwise, don't bother. Do not bother. It will piss off everyone and please no one. However, if Bioware 2.0 ever wants to get out from the shadow of Bioware 1.0 and say, "Hey, we did it despite EA..." and do it right, I would say that would be globally epic.

* I'm totally fine with that.

Alright, I get what you're saying, but what kind of investment would be needed to see it happen? How much money? I would bet an easy 5 million sold in the first week on a global scale. That's a lot of money for remaster 1 of 3. Maybe I'm crazy optimistic. The ending is the humongous elephant in the room. Get rid of Dumbo and Starchild and give us choices that will culminate with an ending that is dependent on your alignment and what you've done throughout the trilogy. Your entire, remaining squad should be there to confirm your choices. That way, Bioware knows exactly where to lead off and tailor the experience to your canon save. Of course, that's too ambitious (I don't mean to sound smug, I am just showing my respect for Frostbite) at this point, but I see this Bioware doing what the previous Bioware couldn't. They just needed to cut their teeth and they did. I guess we'll see how much has been learned through their DLC. 

I couldn't say the level of investment, but I think it's safe to say that any "remastered" version of the Mass Effect trilogy that gets released will have no change in dialogue, gameplay or narrative. It would be as it was upon release, with maybe as good a presentation as current gen systems would allow. Of course this means people on PC don't have to bother either way. I doubt EA/BioWare would ever invest anything at all in creating new content specifically to remedy an ending that's been long dealt with years ago.