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Mass Effect project director says there's one DLC you should 'make sure you play'

BioWare recommends playing Mass Effect 2's Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC before Mass Effect 5, highlighting its importance to Liara T'Soni's storyline and potential impact on the upcoming game's plot.

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Now that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is in players' hands, many BioWare fans are already looking ahead to what's to come with the developer's upcoming project Mass Effect 5. And BioWare project director and executive producer Michael Gamble recently shared a recommendation for what new fans should experience when getting into the sci-fi series.

In a post on the social media site formerly known as Twitter, Gamble suggested fans should revisit the infamous Mass Effect 2 DLC Lair of the Shadow Broker. So far, details on the next Mass Effect are slim aside from a teaser poster and an early reveal trailer showing the familiar N7 logo and a returning Liara T'soni, which makes Lair of the Shadow Broker a particularly interesting suggestion.

So many new Mass Effect fans popping up in my mentions. Maybe because it’s like 5 bucks or something. Awesome to see. There’s like an extra game worth of DLC content in there but make sure you play Lair of the Shadow Broker. Thx.November 30, 2024

As a refresher, Lair of the Shadow Broker is a DLC mission pack for Mass Effect 2 focusing on Liara T'Soni's quest to find and hunt down the elusive Shadow Broker, the leader of a mysterious black market organization with access to vital information that high-profile clients pay to gain access to. The DLC mission is perhaps best played as a post-game quest, which saw players reunite with Liara from the original Mass Effect, continuing her story and a possible relationship if players formed a bond with her previously.

What makes the Lair of the Shadow Broker mission so vital is that it carried over into Mass Effect 3, which saw – sorry for spoiling – Liara assume the role of the Shadow Broker and take over the organization in secret. Given that Liara is one of the characters highlighted in the Mass Effect 5 teaser and that she's become one of the most influential people in the galaxy in her new role, it should stand to reason that her part in the post-Reaper invasion of the galaxy will be a large one.

While some community members are still sore about Andromeda being left unresolved in favor of a sequel to the original trilogy, it is interesting to see BioWare looking to continue with threads and a new storyline following Mass Effect 3's still-controversial ending.

If you're looking for another RPG to play along with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the Mass Effect series, check out our roundup of the best RPGs to play right now.