ManyMass Effectfans may not know that the first game’s planet, “Therum,” was originally supposed to be much different. In earlier versions of ME1, Therum went by another name, Caleston, and had an entirely different story centered around a shady criminal underworld. However, most of this content was cut from the game before release.
TheMass Effectseries has a lot of cut content, a common case for large story-based games that feature exploration as a mechanic. Most of this cut material concerns certain NPC dialogues and side plots, but in a few cases, like with Caleston,whole areas were left on the cutting room floor. Luckily,Mass Effect’s developers often find ways to recycle this content and put it in future games, meaning there might already be a few areas to look out for inMass Effect 5.
Mass Effect Already Repurposed The Cut Planet Caleston
Therum Was Initially Much Larger, With A More Involved Story
In the first game, Commander Shepard and the crew visit Therum early on to recruitDr. Liara T’Soni, an Asari historian researching the Protheansand is related toMass Effect’s Matriarch Benezia. In comparison to the other early missions on the planets of Feros and Noveria, Therum is a rather short jaunt. The player goes in, finds and frees Liara from a trap inside a Prothean ruin, and escapes as the entire place collapses.
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But originally, Therum was meant to be much more involved. Backwhen the planet was still called Caleston, it was intended to be just as involved as those other two planets,with its own hub area and multiple side quests. Freeing Liara from the Prothean ruin of Knossos would be one aspect of the planet, but there would be a separate story involving an interstellar cartel in conflict with a group of miners operating on the planet. Ultimately, none of this was included in the final game.
In other parts of the series, the names of Caleston and Knossos are included as the names of systems and clusters on the galaxy map.
However, it is worth noting that much of Caleston’s content was eventually released in some form or another. Apparently, the overworld map for theBring Down The SkyDLC reutilized some assets from Caleston. But more significantly,the asteroid Omega inMass Effect 2and3reuses most of the story and characters from the plans for Caleston,only withAria T’Loak as the new lead character.
Eden Prime Could Make A Return In Mass Effect 5
A Planet With Plenty Of Story Significance And Potential
Looking forward toMass Effect5, it’s worth considering what cut content from the later games hasn’t yet been reused. Much of it centers around Shepard’s squadmates and wouldn’t necessarily translate well to a game without those characters. But much likeMass Effect1 cut Caleston,Mass Effect 3cut one larger area from its story: Eden Prime.
Eden Prime has been featured in several other parts of the series as a visitable planet, and it even shows up inME3as a DLC location. Its role asa frontier human settlement with Prothean ruinswhere Saren and Sovereign first attacked is incredibly important to theReaper storyline inMass Effect. It’s where Javik, the Prothean crew member, can be recruited. But the planet was originally supposed to have more going on as its own location, with a storyline around a rebellion against Cerberus that Shepard could take part in.
The story of Eden Prime’s rebellion was condensed into records Shepard can find during Javik’s recruitment mission, which is a real shame considering the original plans to have this rebellion take place on screen.
This was ultimately scrapped, though fragments made it into the DLC during the one mission on Eden Prime. However, the planet’s important role in the franchise and unused characters from its storylines could be good additions toMass Effect5.Starting the game in some familiar territory would work to reacclimate players to the setting, especially if Shepard is no longer the protagonist.
Why This Cut Content Deserves To Be Seen
The Benefits Of Reutilizing These Parts Of Older Games
On top of showing off the hard work these developers have already put into these games and speeding up the production process,reutilizing these older parts of the game ensures that some parts of those original plans live on. Eden Prime probably won’t be threatened by Cerberus anymore, but it could be under the control of a new human extremist group, or perhaps evenMass Effect’s Batarians, as it borders their area of space. There’s a lot of potential for this cut storyline to still work after the Reaper War.
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Omega, one of the most beloved areas in the series, started out as reused cut content, which proves that this strategy can produce gems. The new game’s developers and writers should look back at some of this forgotten content and implement it intoMass Effect5 for all the positive effects it can have on the story and production process.
