Mass Effect: Femmes Fatales* A Mass Effect Side-quel

*Title subject to change. Because I suck at titles.

-What is the premise of Femmes Fatales?
After, yet another, Cerberus attack on the newly rebuilt Grissom Academy, a certain foul mouthed biotic returns to find it ransacked and inoperable, her pet varren injured and her students kidnapped. News travels fast, however and thanks to the Shadow Broker, an uneasy alliance is made between the top Alliance brass and a rogue Cerberus Operative, in order to locate and return their most talented biotic recruits to safety. With the Shadow Broker working as a liaison, humanity's greatest biotic has to team up with her most unlikely and unlikable ally as an army of two, in order to bring her students back. Join Jack and Miranda Lawson as they travel the galaxy, in their effort to locate the Alliance's promising biotic youth and save them from a cruel fate. Visit iconic locations, like the Citadel, Omega, Noveria and Ilium, meet up with old friends along the way, unleash biotic powers like never before and do it in style.

-Yo, I don't think anyone's going to want to play this game.
Now, hold on. You're saying you're not the tiniest bit interested?

-I mean, I'm curious where you're going with it, but seriously, Cerberus? Again? For, like, what? The fifteenth time now?
It's not going to be exclusively Cerberus. It's going to be a lot less Cerberus, actually, but I'll make sure what Cerberus we do get, is worthwhile.

-Hey man, I still don't know. And a co-op shooter? For real?
I know, but it fits the Online quota for EA. Much easier implemented than a full squad shooter.

-Man, you're just banking on nostalgia. I want Andromeda.
You know, perhaps this opens new avenues for Mass Effect, that doesn't exclude Andromeda. I'm mostly banking on character popularity and ease of implementation. Doing things that Frostbyte won't have a had time dealing with, to the best of my knowledge of the engine. Maybe some of the things that I propose can't be done.

-Pfft! If you're banking on character popularity, why not get Garrus and Shepard? Or Wrex and Shepard? Or Garrus and Wrex? Like, fuck you, I'd play a game with Garrus and Wrex. Everyone would play a game with Garrus and Wrex. Holy fucking shit, like give me that, right now! You bitch!
I hear you. I honestly do. And I thought about it a lot, but it comes down to one thing; microtransactions. I mean, the interactions between Jack and Miranda practically write themselves, so it's a top pick to begin with, but If we're gonna do MTX, we're gonna go cosmetics only and I don't think we can sell Garrus in a bathing suit.

-Are you sure? ┬┴┬┴┤ ͜ʖ ͡°) ├┬┴┬┴
No, you stop that right now! We're not doing that. Garrus and Wrex can still be in the game, though. Perhaps they get a "Live Service" story.

-No! Fuck you!  (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
 ┬──┬◡ﾉ(° -°ﾉ) Maybe a Shadow Broker DLC length one, then. Part of the season pass. Maybe they get a scene relaxing by a pool and they're both in swimming trunks.

-( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I can't believe I just had that argument with myself, trying to cover as many potential arguments as I can. I can't believe it took me this long just to cover turian and krogan loving deviants. Forget it, moving on.

-Speaking of deviants, you're going to sell thong bikinis and sling bikinis and micro-bikinis and...
Woah, woah, woah! I mean, yeah, part of it is to Dead Or Alive 5 the fuck out of it, but that's only part of it. More on it in the MTX section later on.

-Whatever. I still think you're being sexist, chauvinistic and phallocratic.
You know, Patrick Weekes said it himself; these are waifu simulators. At least we're gonna be a little bit honest and make a buck out of it. EA and Bioware can thank me later.

-Wait, if there's just Jack and Miranda ... is this going to be a lesbomance? Oh, my God, it's another male fantasy!
No! No. No, Jack and Miranda have no interest in other women. I mean, Jack has some experience with other women, but I don't see that with Miranda. Maybe she'd share a guy with another girl? I dunno. Wait, I'm getting sidetracked.. There won't be a romance arc in this game. Well, okay, maybe, we'll see. There may be some references to a romanced character, if you romanced them in the OT games, but that's it. We'll have a womance instead. Which is the female version of a bromance, in case you need to look it up. More on that later.

-So far you've mentioned Jack's varren, Eezo, Grissom, Liara as the Shadow Broker and Miranda defecting from Cerberus. When does this all take place?
Between the Citadel party and Priority: Earth.

-But that's an absurdly small span of time! In what timeframe does this unfold?
Like, 3 time.

-Oh, so you're just retarded. Good to know.
I like to consider myself special, thank you very much.

-The hook
But I already gave away the hook; army of two, unleash biotics and stylish. It's a co-op opt-in/out game, which you can play alone and switch freely between the two at the press of a button, or in case one of the two goes down in combat. There is a heavy emphasis on biotics (like Force Unleashed, get it), which will play very OP compared to gunplay. And finally, style. We're going to play up the style in the game, just as we gradually play up the relationship between the two, vanity shots and various cutscene vignettes, may not be available on release, if deemed too resource consuming. Think of it as Army of Two, meets Force unleashed, meets Bayonetta.

-Gameplay
For starters, it's going to be a TPS. There will be a lot of focus into making the weapons feel rewarding. While cover will be important in the game, it will not be essential. There will be some CQC takedowns that can be performed on various enemies, from Dragoons and Guardians to Atlas mechs, when certain conditions are met. There are a lot of factors that go into gameplay, from character interactions and minigames to the actual combat and even then, we're gonna add some more depth to them. The point is to gradually built up our mechanics and expand on them for further games, making each new title feel bigger and more fulfilling, while focusing on smaller stuff that can be implemented first.

-Gunplay
The point is to make each character feel unique. We'll do that by taping into each one's background to match their loadout. Jack, for example, was a gangbanger. As such, she opts for a more "gangsta" approach to combat, at least in this title. She opts for duals, pistols and submachine guns, allowing for a higher RoF and thus more damage, while trading out recoil and accuracy. She also sports a shotgun and for heavy weapons, (yes, those will be available too) the M-560 Hydra. Miranda, on the other hand, has been trained to prefer precision and accuracy, therefore she goes for a single pistol and submachine gun, making up for her lower RoF with surgical efficiency to her shots. She also carries a sniper rifle and for heavy weapons, the M-100 grenade launcher. For the standard weapons, drops of higher level will occur from killing enemies and opening chests, crates etc. No lootbox, no MTX.

-Armors
Armors will be available for research. Parts/schematics will drop from enemies and can be researched/manufactured by the Shadow Broker. Armors vary from light to heavy. Heavy armors will need to be upgraded to a certain level to be usable, though. Additionally, Jack will be averse to wearing armors. Sets that she equips will be vandalized, in some way or another. Vandalized sets will no longer fit for Miranda, they will need to be produced anew. On top of armors, each character has a unique mechanic; Jack has by default a biotic barrier on at all times, offering her added protection, if the barrier is exhausted, it starts regenerating after her shield is full. Miranda is genetically built to heal faster, so she has a natural healing factor that refills her health.

-Biotics
Biotics will be upgradeable, but their upgrade system will be more akin to KotoR's feats, as in, you will have your standard form of a skill that will progress into a much more significantly powerful one, e.g. slam will turn into crush, which will cause an enemy to crumble onto himself, to mass crush, which will target several adjacent targets in an area. Jack has a new power, glide, which will turn into hover and then flight, like in Anthem etc. In addition to that, Jack will be able to teach Miranda abilities and vice versa as their relationship progresses.

-Relationship*
*Name susceptible to change
Jack and Miranda share a relationship meter. There will be banter through mission and activities, matching the tone of their relationship status. It can either improve or deteriorate, according to how interactions between them go, or other factors within the game. There will be certain chances to do so, either in mission, through dialogue, similar to how it worked in Divinity Original Sin, or activities. While some activities can be repeatable, they waste time. Waste too much time and Jack's students will start to die. Lose too many and Jack's relationship with Miranda will deteriorate, causing her to turn on the other. Regardless of who survives the confrontation, you are met with a bad end, as Miranda gets executed for her failure, by the Alliance and Jack commits suicide for failing her students. Completing the game with loses will result in a sad little gathering of the survivors, Miranda may or may not be present, depending on Relationship meter status. Completing the game without loses, Jack celebrates saving her kids, with Miranda present or not, depending on relationship status. Saving all of Jack's students and maxing out the relationship meter has Miranda attend the celebration and perhaps Orianna shows up as well, possible extra scene follows, e.g. movie night, or extra mission, e.g. Shepard is missing. Purely fanservice, at this point.

-Cameos
Different characters will show up as cameos, some during the campaign, development permitting, others in Live Service DLC chunks. Tali and a potentially alive Kal'Reegar show up in Omega, after a lone Geth unit that was cut off from the rest of its kind (possible plot point for post ME3 ending). If Kal'Reegar is alive he will comment how "rumours of his death have been greatly exaggerated". Up for debate. You help Wrex and Grunt in Citadel against yet another coop attempt, this time a krogan clan trying to wring the power on Tuchanka from clan Urdnot. You help Samara track down some smugglers on Ilium, that stole much needed supplies for the Monastery. Help Kasumi find some precious items, by infiltrating a secret vault hidden in one of the frosty peaks of Noveria.

-Plot Point
During the missions, in one of the many Cerberus facilities, Jack and Miranda will stumble upon a blueprint that seems to have been stolen by Cerberus, from the Prothean ruins on Mars. You have no idea what it is or what it does, but it seems to be somehow connected to the Crucible.

-Timer
There is an internal timer that dictates at which interval Jack's students die. The weaker ones will die off first, starting with Rodriguez and leaving Prangley for last. The students may all be housed in different facilities, or not, up for discussion. Saving the weaker ones can afford more time for Jack and Miranda to bond without repercussions.

-Mini games
Jack and Miranda can engage in activities, according to the hub area they are. In Noveria, Jack can snowboard while Miranda skis. If EA Ghost Games (former EA Black Box personnel, famous for the Skate series, now doing Need For Speed) is available, they can use their experience in sports games, like skate, to create a snowboard minigame.  In Illium, a swimming or surfing activity, Omega has dancing(?), which is a rhythm minigame, because it worked so well last time with Sonic and the Dark brotherhood, or mercenary bounties for Aria, or roller skating for Miranda and skateboarding for Jack and lastly Citadel has Armax Arena. If Ghost Games is particularly available, they can work on a driving minigame, like with KotoR, only more up to date, with a few tracks available on each hub and mostly just time trial events. Possibly available at a later date as a post launch update, part of the live service. If proven popular, maybe more modes can be made available.

-Microtransactions
As already said, purely cosmetic. While some cosmetics will be up for purchase through in-game currency, or perhaps as awards for activities. Each hubworld will have its own vendor that sells cosmetics; surfboards, swimsuits and sunglasses in Ilium, winter sports gear, winter outfits and furs in Noveria, (Jack will not wear fur) racing gear and high fashion in Citadel, street casual wear in Omega. Cosmetic items can be equipped separately of armor and can be toggled on or off during gameplay, to be shown instead of armor.

-End game
Reaching the final Cerberus installation, Jack finds out that she wasn't as thorough as she remembered, when she broke out of Pragia. Now, the lead scientist has injected himself with enough Eezo and all the breakthroughs he accomplished in the Teltin facility. Now Jack has to overcome her fears for a final, crazy biotic fight.