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Bioware GM: Anthem will be Science Fantasy instead of Science Fiction

Renekton

Member
Bioware GM Interview

So Bioware is going Science Fantasy route instead of the more grounded Science Fiction of Mass Effect. Looks like we won't have any more AAA games that take pains in grounding the wonders you see with plausible minutiae, which is a loss for me personally. Maybe Cyberpunk can fill that gap somewhat, who knows. In case you're wondering what's the difference, check out Extra Credits - Science Fiction


  • Science Fiction: Takes great pains to make sure the wonders and technobabble you see in the fictional world are given plausible explanations based on real-world science. Can be tedious for non-geeks. Examples: Star Trek, Mass Effect 1, Prey
  • Science Fantasy: Space magic. Does not bog down the player too much with explaining how things work so they can concentrate on the drama and wonder. Examples: Halo, Star Wars, Mass Effect Andromeda, Destiny
 

Vinc

Member
Sounds perfect to me. This game just keeps sounding better. I really can't wait to see more. Last time I felt this interested in a game just from a first look was Horizon.
 

Mathieran

Banned
Considering they told us almost nothing about why we should care about the world in the reveal of the game, I doubt they are putting much work into the world anyway. I know there's good writers that are working on the game but I'm still very skeptical.

I'd be happy to be proven wrong though.
 
Sounds good to me honestly. I'm still not sold on Anthem but I'll be keeping a close eye on it. I may not even mess with Destiny 2 after reading some of the stuff I've read so I'd like something to fill that void
 

Trace

Banned
Damn...i wonder if bungie knows they created a whole new genre with destiny.

It's a co-op scifi game mixed with fantasy loot simulator with group activities, a semi-open world and emphasis on movement abilities.

I didn't realize that was a genre.
 
So Xenoblade (Science Fantasy) to Xenoblade X (Science Fiction).

In the former there's still advanced technology used but it takes place on the backs of dead Gods. While the latter takes place only a few decades in the future and takes care to explain their waste and food production facilities.
 

DNAbro

Member
It's a co-op scifi game mixed with fantasy loot simulator with group activities, a semi-open world and emphasis on movement abilities.

I didn't realize that was a genre.

well now it is. Can't wait to see Ubisoft's take on it.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Lol.

Classic Marketing. Look lets use buzzwords that compare our product to things that are beloved by many (Star Wars, Destiny ect) and not a nice product that is coming off two disapointing films (Star Trek).

Insert I'm shocked .GIF
 

duckroll

Member
Mass Effect was totally Science Fantasy. Elven alien races with psionic magic powers, demonic ancient evil that corrupts and possesses weak minded people, prophecies, gods, overtechnology that is never explained because they are so ancient no one can ever understand or replicate them, but hey let's use them gates anyway!
 
Well if it was fantasy, it would have space magic or something lik... oh... yeah

The "magic" is explained using science. So it's not magic.

Unless anything that's not totally realistic is magic, in which case almost all sci-fi is fantasy.

This thread is really triggering me right now, lmao.

Mass Effect was totally Science Fantasy. Elven alien races with psionic magic powers, demonic ancient evil that corrupts and possesses weak minded people, prophecies, gods, overtechnology that is never explained because they are so ancient no one can ever understand or replicate them, but hey let's use them gates anyway!

Everything was explained though... to its detriment really towards the end there.
 

Sou Da

Member
Mass Effect was totally Science Fantasy. Elven alien races with psionic magic powers, demonic ancient evil that corrupts and possesses weak minded people, prophecies, gods, overtechnology that is never explained because they are so ancient no one can ever understand or replicate them, but hey let's use them gates anyway!
By this definition so is Star Trek. Every single time this discussion is brought up it's just a bunch of a smug ass gatekeeping.

Edit: Hell most discussion around Mass Effect is just smug ass gatekeeping.
 

theWB27

Member
It's a co-op scifi game mixed with fantasy loot simulator with group activities, a semi-open world and emphasis on movement abilities.

I didn't realize that was a genre.

I didn't realize destiny was so original that anthem could be said to steal from it.

As another poster said... this resembles the division more than destiny.

Exploration looks to be a much bigger deal than destiny hoped it could be.
 

CookTrain

Member
The "magic" is explained using science. So it's not magic.

Unless anything that's not totally realistic is magic, in which case almost all sci-fi is fantasy.

This thread is really triggering me right now, lmao.



Everything was explained though... to its detriment really towards the end there.

Explained might be a generous term for it :p
 

Laiza

Member
All this talk of The Division and Destiny...

But let's not forget that Warframe existed before either of those two.
 

duckroll

Member
By this definition so is Star Trek. Every single time this discussion is brought up it's just a bunch of a smug ass gatekeeping.

Edit: Hell most discussion around Mass Effect is just smug ass gatekeeping.

It's not gatekeeping it's just a definition. Science Fantasy rocks. Babylon 5 is the bestest, and it is as described by the creator - Lord of the Rings in Space.
 
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