Since the first trilogy had a galaxy ending threat and a hero who was fully supported by the military I always thought a cool game set in the ME universe would be something not Galaxy threatening but close, a game set decades after the original ME trilogy. This way only characters who are extremely long lived like Liara can have guest spots in the game thus giving our current heroes there own space to shine ( admittedly I also picture Shepard statues on every planet or the main battleship of the human race being called the "Shepard" or something). The story would be told from the seedier side of things, there's a potential war brewing between the Asari and the Turians, one that could cost millions of lives if allowed to play out. You are a smuggler and you choose from 3 races (Human, Turian, Asari/ female or male for all...except Asari of course) and find yourself captain of a ragtag crew of smuggler/pirates along the lines of the show "Firefly" . You and your crew have been hired to transport/smuggle an artifact that could either stop or ignite the war, suddenly you find yourself double crossed by the client who hired you. You now spend the game wanted by authorities as well as agents for both the Turians and the Asari not to mention the thugs who work for your untrustworthy employer who you are also trying to find the identity of. Species that were previously not available are now potential crew members like a Batarian, a Vorcha, maybe an Elcor crew member who remains on board at all times like Joker did, likewise with a Volus crew member who is likely the ships mechanic sending the player on various missions to improve or fix the ships issues. Armor, weapons and ship upgrades would be more of a salvage/crafting level, maybe the uptions to add graffiti or war paint to help add to that smuggler theme. To that effect maybe the ship is in itself a character with an AI like EDI in the original series but programmed to be more of a wise ass with personality. I know nobody from Bioware is gonna read this post nor is everyone who reads this gonna agree but I did think it'd be a cool, seedier take on a storyline in the ME universe.
