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HerroRygar · Apr 18, 2015

Can we not do a mysterious, ancient technology and savior of the human race thing? Colonizing a galaxy sounds fantastic on its own. I mean, seamless spaceflight to atmospheric descent to surface exploration? You don't need to make me think I'm saving the universe to enjoy that. That could be an entire game by itself. The struggle of simply establishing a colony is more than interesting enough to carry a game.

Also, if this is real, I hope they make it semi-realistic. Obviously arcadey in terms of travel speed, but planetary/moon orbits should be solid. And there should be gas-giant planets with habitable moons, where you walk on the surface and see this giant planet hanging in the sky above you.

Nirolak · Apr 18, 2015

So it's like Mass Effect: Inquisition, but with even more Ubisoft Game/Montreal Game™ elements added.

This sounds 100% plausible, and of the things I've heard, they're all present.

That said I think it sounds quite good. Excited to see it in action.

Phinor · Apr 18, 2015

EdwardTeach said:
Sounds like they have designed it to be a massive time sink. I find that slightly off putting.

I really hope this isn't going to be another game like that. Mass Effect is just about my favourite gaming franchise but I really don't want another DA:I type game where 80% of the game is worthless yet you have to do all of it because you don't want to miss anything (well you don't have to, but I can't skip content in a game I'm trying to enjoy). Give me great 25 hours instead of 25 great hours and 50 hours of crap that make the game worst gaming experience of the year. DA:I was that game. Decent game, worst overall experience.

Trust me. I'm a PhD · Apr 18, 2015

EatChildren said:
Yeah this, and I was banking on them finally making the lineup something like Human/Asari/Turian/Salarian. Especially since Inquisition basically did it.

Maybe you still can? Like maybe you could be working for humanity even as a different race? That would fit thematicly with the series.

Marvel · Apr 18, 2015

Incredibly excited! would be nice to have planet exploration with the Mako back too.

- J - D - · Apr 18, 2015

This sounds less like a logical step forward for the series and more like a lateral step towards DA:I design ethos.

Lime · Apr 18, 2015

Nirolak said:
So it's like Mass Effect: Inquisition, but with even more Ubisoft Game/Montreal Game elements added.

This sounds 100% plausible, and of the things I've heard, they're all present.

That said I think it sounds quite good. Excited to see it in action.

Yeah that's what I gathered as well. Three inches deep ocean etc. I'm not super positive about such game design, but it's Bioware so I don't expect much from them

Karak · Apr 18, 2015

"Pathfinder"
"Not Wrex"

wolfhowwl · Apr 18, 2015

shinobi602 said:
Have you seen the prototype footage? It looks fun as hell to drive.

From last E3, yes I watched that.

Even if ME1's Mako drove better you'd still be wandering a wasteland prospecting for platinum and collecting Matriarch writings (for some reason it seems like ME1 got a pass for this).

Lakitu · Apr 18, 2015

If they compensate the meta game stuff with meaningful missions with story content, set pieces, explorable hubs and interactivity with your squad, then I don't really mind at all.

Achire · Apr 18, 2015

It doesn't really sound like this needed to be a Mass Effect game for anything but the name, could've been its own new IP. Sounds interesting, will probably buy.

Metroidvania · Apr 18, 2015

Reading over again, the 'no load screens' and 'resource gathering/empty worlds' (that was one of DA"I's biggest complaints) sound like some red flags/blatant PR speak.

Probably masked by elevators/fancy landing animations for the former, but I hope Bioware learned their lesson from DA:I on making the world empty, and (many of) the sidequests meaningless.

Taker34 · Apr 18, 2015

I honestly hope that this is fake... it doesn't sound like a particular good setting at all. I feel like this is basically ME Trilogy: Andromeda.
The best thing BioWare can do is to pick a canon ending and doing a proper sequel. I think exploring the galaxy, where we all live in, is much more exciting from a sci-fi standpoint. All it takes is a story writer with a bit of common sense.

Can anyone remember how Amy Hennig saved LoK? That's how BioWare should do it.

Nirolak · Apr 18, 2015

Lime said:
Yeah that's what I gathered as well. Three inches deep ocean etc. I'm not super positive about such game design, but it's Bioware so I don't expect much from them

Right, I mean, this isn't exactly blowing me away, but I try to judge modern AAA products by the two possible frameworks they seem able to exist in anymore (competitive multiplayer FPS with cinematic campaign or open world game with eight gazillion things, many of which are half baked).

Stilton Disco · Apr 18, 2015

diamount said:
Different studio, different team, different everything - it will be a fresh set of eyes on the franchise, which is why they probably opted for a completely different galaxy.Your choice of analogy is pretty strange though.

Had not heard that. I thought Mac Walters was still the head writer? If he's left there's a chance it won't be utter wank!

And my choice of analogy is one I've used repeatedly because it accurately reflects my feelings on the utter clusterfuck of failures that was ME3's narrative.

Almighty · Apr 18, 2015

Lime said:
Yeah that's what I gathered as well. Three inches deep ocean etc. I'm not super positive about such game design, but it's Bioware so I don't expect much from them

That's pretty much the boat I am in as well. Though I did make the mistake of buying DA:I(for cheap but still) because I liked what I saw before I got all burned out on its filler crap. I won't be making that same mistake with ME4.

Dilly · Apr 18, 2015

I'd really like to know how exactly they managed to get to Andromeda. No one is that technologically advanced in the ME universe.

Sodding_Gamer · Apr 18, 2015

Funny how it definitely sounds like DA:I when it comes to certain game design elements yet the Devs were quick to say that it's nothing like DA:I not too long back if I remember correctly.

Nightengale · Apr 18, 2015

The next Mass Effect game takes place in the Helius Cluster (a cluster of 100s of solar systems in the Andromeda Galaxy), far removed by time and space from Commander Shepard’s heroic acts and the final events of the Mass Effect trilogy.

You are a pathfinder, a combat trained but un-tested explorer leading an expedition into the Helius cluster to establish a new home for humanity

As you explore this sprawling series of solar systems (over 4x the size of Mass Effect 3), collecting resources and building colonies, you will encounter the savagery of untamed lands in the form of cut-throat outlaws and warring alien races.

To survive and colonize the wild reaches of space, you will need to grow your arsenal, your ship, your crew and make strategic (and often uneasy) alliances to fight against increasingly menacing foes

DA:I-ish elements? Mite be cool.

Along the way, you will encounter the remains of a once powerful and mysterious alien race, the Remnant, whose forgotten technology holds the key to gaining power in this region of the galaxy. As you uncover who the Remnant were, and the mysteries their ruins contain, you are drawn into a violent race to find the source of their forgotten technology that will determine the fate of humanity.

Almighty · Apr 18, 2015

Dilly said:
I'd really like to know how exactly they managed to get to Andromeda. No one is that technologically advanced in the ME universe.

Discovered some previously unknown mass relay that can send them to there is my bet.

Dmax3901 · Apr 18, 2015

Customize and Share Your Experience:

Discover new things in Andromeda Galaxy, like alien artifacts and natural wonders, that serve as trophies and decorations that you can use to modify the look of your character, Tempest (Space Ship) and Mako (land vehicle). Customize the way your squad and your character look with clothes and aesthetic modifications that you unlock throughout the game. Photos you take from the far reaches of the galaxy can be used to decorate your starship or sold to certain characters.

Space Ship is capitalised by land vehicle isn't. DE MOTHER FUCKEN BUNKED.

Sounds about right though otherwise.

MrRudiMentary · Apr 18, 2015

Sounds like ME2 with the exploration of ME1. This is a good thing, a very good thing indeed.

HalfBakedProphet · Apr 18, 2015

HerroRygar said:
Can we not do a mysterious, ancient technology...

Based on Mass Effect logic, intelligent species crop up relatively quickly (multiple do less than every 50,000 years in the Milky Way). Over the course of billions of years, at least hundreds of millions of spacefaring species will have risen and fallen in Andromeda. Again, according to Mass Effect logic, you're going to have old, left over technology in any galaxy that's been around for a long time

Kyoufu · Apr 18, 2015

So ME4 has loot? I'm not sure what to think because they claimed DA:I had loot too but it was all junk. ME1's loot wasn't the greatest but the upgrades were meaningful and had a big impact on the gameplay, so if they can at least achieve that then I'd be satisfied.

SargerusBR · Apr 18, 2015

Dilly said:
I'd really like to know how exactly they managed to get to Andromeda. No one is that technologically advanced in the ME universe.

A lost inter-galactic mass effect relay would be the safest bet.

EatChildren · Apr 18, 2015

Checklisting quest design is less problematic if the rewards are relatively substantial and interesting on a play level than just "here's a pat on the back", which is where the Ubisoft/Montreal design frequently falters. The feedback loop there is poor as while you have a lot to do the rewards are trivialised by their similarities.

I think a space exploration game lends itself to this design a bit more readily as planets are easier to compartmentalise into challenges while also giving the illusion of scope and freedom to go wherever you want. So, you can see a galaxy of stuff you could explore, but only a certain percentage of it is realistically because you don't have the right gear. So you do your checklist quests to acquire the abilities/functions that expand the scope of your exploration, offering more options in where you can go and what you can do.

Inquisition fucks this up a bit because it has no feedback loop beyond your player level, meaning all the quests are kinda marginalised into the same thing no matter what it is, where you are, or the difficulty. You can, once locations are unlocked, more or less go anywhere, do anything, and expect the same rewards.

When you put up some progress gates behind game systems that must be unlocked, discovered, or constructed the feedback loop becomes a bit more interesting. Not necessarily good (overall quality is reliant on a number of factors), but at least more rewarding in the same way getting a new item in Metroid or Zelda is.

I just hope they manage to deliver on it. Even with that checklisting game design, multi-planet exploration and discovery with lots of hazards in a scifi is one of the best possible settings to do it.

HP_Wuvcraft · Apr 18, 2015

Karak said:
"Pathfinder"
"Not Wrex"

Pre-order canceled.

wolfhowwl · Apr 18, 2015

Dilly said:
I'd really like to know how exactly they managed to get to Andromeda. No one is that technologically advanced in the ME universe.

Same as everything else, a mass effect field did it.

Sodding_Gamer · Apr 18, 2015

HalfBakedProphet said:
Based on Mass Effect logic, intelligent species crop up rather quickly. Over the course of billions of years, millions of spacefaring species will have risen and fallen. Again, according to Mass Effect logic, you're going to have old, left over technology in any galaxy that's been around for a long time

My guess is that there was a secret relay to the andromeda and that this remnant species may have fought the reapers in a past cycle only to have retreated to Andromeda. You find them and learn the history of that and why they didn't survive in Andromeda either.

This is completely pulled out my arse and just something I can see them doing. I'm excited either way. Just extremely wary of the Ubisoft and dragon age game design elements that seem like they will be implemented into this game.

toddhunter · Apr 18, 2015

After playing Dragon Age Inquisition this sounds incredibly awful. At best, I was hoping it would at least be a pretty fun brain dead third person shooter.

If this turns into what those rumours suggest and it gets goty awards I'll... continue to be baffled by modern gamers.

Lakitu · Apr 18, 2015

toddhunter said:
After playing Dragon Age Inquisition this sounds incredibly awful. At best, I was hoping it would at least be a pretty fun brain dead third person shooter.

If this turns into what those rumours suggest and it gets goty awards I'll... continue to be baffled by modern gamers.

I loved DA:I and yet I hated the fetch-quest design. You know it's possible to enjoy something and not like every aspects of it? There's plenty of other stuff in it that redeems it.

Stilton Disco · Apr 18, 2015

SargerusBR said:
A lost inter-galactic mass effect relay would be the safest bet.

Even the Reapers don't have that level of technology in the ME universe.

Of course they stopped giving a shit about their own lore or what is or isn't theoretically possible in 3, so fuck knows.

Actually, sure we do: Space Magic. That's how they get to another galaxy.

Also I just checked, and Mac Walters does seem to still be head writer, so this game's main plot and narrative structure is guaranteed to be shit.

EatChildren · Apr 18, 2015

I'll also add that the feedback loop of checklisting design is more tolerable when the moment-to-moment design is actually, you know, fun. And that's something where real time shooters, like Mass Effect, have a leg up. Even though I quite like Inquisition the combat really isn't very exciting. Meanwhile I was happy to put ludicrous hours into Mass Effect 3's multiplayer simply because the act of shooting shit, working out strategies, and chaining combos felt so damn good.

I'll be more inclined to do these ruins (read: Destiny Raids) and explore shit if I'm really enjoying the heart of the combat.

Arxisz · Apr 18, 2015

Sounds like it has too much padding.

M3z_ · Apr 18, 2015

They seem to be trying to really separate themselves from the original ME fiction which is good, but will this game still rely on all the same alien races? I really like the idea of staying in the ME universe ie. alien races, culture, politics, but at the same time not intersecting with anything Shepard related. Certainly I would have no problem with introducing new races, but part of what made ME so amazing as a series is all the depth they put into the universe. I need there to still be Asari, Hanar, Turians, Drell, etc. etc.

toddhunter · Apr 18, 2015

Lakitu said:
I loved DA:I and yet I hated the fetch-quest design. You know it's possible to enjoy something and not like every aspects of it? There's plenty of other stuff in it that redeems it.

This is true, I think the difference is I found everything else in DA:I to be terrible as well. The combat in general, characters, story, spells... There seems to be this theory that the fetch quests were boring but the "main stuff" was great.
I don't buy into that. If anything the fetch quests were the best thing about DA:I. Compared to origins (and this presumably compared to ME1), it is just an awful way to put together a game, there was nothing fun about it.

And I know "so just don't buy it". But these guys have proven before they can make something pretty darn good.

Being positive, if they do extend from ME3 it'll at least have some decent shooting so the combat might not be completely awful. There is still some hope that "modern gaming" can work better in this setting.

HP_Wuvcraft · Apr 18, 2015

Mass Effect 4 |OT| And Jesus Wept, For There Were No More Worlds To Conquer.

SliChillax · Apr 18, 2015

This sounds crazy good, everything I was hoping for actually.

eXistor · Apr 18, 2015

Sounds pretty basic Mass Effect to be honest, but if they can make some interesting and diverse environments and reintroduce actual proper exploration I'm in. I hope they don't focus too much on the multiplayer aspect though, that's a major turn-off.

EatChildren · Apr 18, 2015

If you're again locked to fucking humans, yet all the other races are appearing, I'd guess the context of the plot is that:

Access to Andromeda galaxy discovered. Each species/empire in the Milky Way develops their own outer-galaxy colony program (hence the appearance of Krogans). The Alliance has the Pathfinder Initiative, which you're leading. Everybody arrives. It's essential the Wild West of Mass Effect, everyone vying for land, while also conflicting with the species already calling the galaxy home. Remnant artefacts turn out to be Reapers. Suddenly Cerberus is there for some reason. Everything is shit.

Lakitu · Apr 18, 2015

toddhunter said:
This is true, I think the difference is I found everything else in DA:I to be terrible as well. The combat in general, characters, story, spells... There seems to be this theory that the fetch quests were boring but the "main stuff" was great.

I don't buy into that. If anything the fetch quests were the best thing about DA:I. Compared to origins (and this presumably compared to ME1), it is just an awful way to put together a game.

And I know "so just don't buy it". But these guys have proven before they can make something pretty darn good.

I understand that and they may make something good in your eyes. We'll just have to wait and see. Bioware always thrives on fan feedback, so no doubt they would be listening to the negativity surrounding some of DA: I. That's why I feel it's too early to assume too much, that's if this is even true.

Prine · Apr 18, 2015

I loved all 3 Mass Effects with ME1 being one of the best RPGs ever. This all sounds great, MAKO is back?

wolfhowwl · Apr 18, 2015

EatChildren said:
If you're again locked to fucking humans, yet all the other races are appearing, I'd guess the context of the plot is that:

Access to Andromeda galaxy discovered. Each species/empire in the Milky Way develops their own outer-galaxy colony program (hence the appearance of Krogans). The Alliance has the Pathfinder Initiative, which you're leading. Everybody arrives. It's essential the Wild West of Mass Effect, everyone vying for land, while also conflicting with the species already calling the galaxy home. Remnant artefacts turn out to be Reapers. Suddenly Cerberus is there for some reason. Everything is shit.

That makes sense. If it was some sort of exploration/science mission as some people had thought why on Earth would you invite vermin like Krogan or God forbid Quarians?

Stilton Disco · Apr 18, 2015

M3z_ said:
They seem to be trying to really separate themselves from the original ME fiction which is good, but will this game still rely on all the same alien races? I really like the idea of staying in the ME universe ie. alien races, culture, politics, but at the same time not intersecting with anything Shepard related. Certainly I would have no problem with introducing new races, but part of what made ME so amazing as a series is all the depth they put into the universe. I need there to still be Asari, Hanar, Turians, Drell, etc. etc.

Logically, if it's a different galaxy, then the only established races you'll see will be those (if any) brought with you, and given the possible extinction of several, I'd be surprised if we saw anything bar a few Asari, Salarians and Turians. Which is why I said this sounds like Mass Effect in name only.

Or they'll ignore the plot holes and we'll see everyone. Fuck knows frankly.

EGM1966 · Apr 18, 2015

I like the mechanics indicated but I'm so wary of "fate of humanity" and ancient alien tech. Can't I just get caught in some medium sized event due to circumstance and play a pivotal role?

Honestly the saviour of humanity stuff and overarching quest is boring and feels like a repeat of previous trilogy.

KKRT00 · Apr 18, 2015

I hope that they will finally eliminate full-screen effects on low life, automatic zoom on scopes and make seperate buttons for getting to cover, evade and jump over obstacles on PC. This stuff was so annoying in multiplayer, its not even funny.

Also fuck full screen effects on Krogan Rage and other passives, like Vorcha regen.

Yeul · Apr 18, 2015

EatChildren said:
If you're again locked to fucking humans, yet all the other races are appearing, I'd guess the context of the plot is that:

Access to Andromeda galaxy discovered. Each species/empire in the Milky Way develops their own outer-galaxy colony program (hence the appearance of Krogans). The Alliance has the Pathfinder Initiative, which you're leading. Everybody arrives. It's essential the Wild West of Mass Effect, everyone vying for land, while also conflicting with the species already calling the galaxy home. Remnant artefacts turn out to be Reapers. Suddenly Cerberus is there for some reason. Everything is shit.

Plot twist the cycle continues ending was canon all along.

This hurts me.

whoszed · Apr 18, 2015

Maybe would have hoped for a more "Firefly" style story of a tight knit crew trying to make ends meet.

Why the hell does it have to be "fate of humanity" once again? Rest of the game sounds pretty promising.

HalfBakedProphet · Apr 18, 2015

EatChildren said:
If you're again locked to fucking humans, yet all the other races are appearing, I'd guess the context of the plot is that:

Access to Andromeda galaxy discovered. Each species/empire in the Milky Way develops their own outer-galaxy colony program (hence the appearance of Krogans). The Alliance has the Pathfinder Initiative, which you're leading. Everybody arrives. It's essential the Wild West of Mass Effect, everyone vying for land, while also conflicting with the species already calling the galaxy home. Remnant artefacts turn out to be Reapers. Suddenly Cerberus is there for some reason. Everything is shit.

I could see the Tempest being a Normandy type ship; developed by multiple races with a multiple species crew. Basically, you bring some of the old ME species with you to Andromeda and only run into new ones while there

toddhunter · Apr 18, 2015

Lakitu said:
I understand that and they may make something good in your eyes. We'll just have to wait and see. Bioware always thrives on fan feedback, so no doubt they would be listening to the negativity surrounding some of DA: I. That's why I feel it's too early to assume too much, that's if this is even true.

Unfortunately there was a lot of negative feedback...but also GOTY awards and huge sales. That seems like a lot more persuasive feedback than some old guy whinging on a forum.

But yes, you never know.

If there really is any of that "wait 45 minutes" crap I'm out though.

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