User blog comment:James12708/Bioware Hasn't written themselves into a corner/@comment-2228120-20121109205052

Making an ME game without Shepard - pre- or post- - will face the same problems the DA franchise did when the devs decided not to continue the Warden's story (a correct decision, since the Warden can do the ultimate sacrifice). They took a brand new hero, and instead of the save-the-world-against-an-ancient-evil, they chose a smaller, more personal story. And... they failed. Perhaps not spectacularly, as DA2 still has its portion of fans, but considerably. Despite the hyped promo, Hawke couldn't fit into the Warden's shoes (earning him the nickname of "the most important bystander ever"). The story lacked focus (as well as an antagonist) and its parts felt disconnected. Retconning lore as well as players' choices didn't help, either.

However, the reason why DA2 failed was not that they chose another protagonist and a less spectacular story: it failed it wasn't done correctly. A small, less heroic story is more difficult to make, and the DA dev team didn't perform the transition from big heroics well. Will the ME team? That is a question. I do hope that there are still people in Bioware able to analyse what DA2 fell shot on, and take their lesson from it.