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Mass Effect: Andromeda - E3 Info Dump

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Highlighted by Renekton, full post over at reddit.

EA Play Trailer
-The new ship is called the Tempest. It's small enough to land on planets
-Asari, Salarians, Krogan etc are all in Andromeda
-The Mako has a boost feature
-Biotics are back
-You can switch shoulders during combat
-Facial animations are smoother/more detailed
-There is more than one Ark
-Before leaving, the Arks were located above Earth
-Passengers on the Ark have been kept in some kind of stasis during the journey. Female character is first to wake up

Mac Walters (YouTube Live at E3)
-Characters are a huge focus, Frostbite allows them to create more detailed characters
-The dialogue system will be familiar but they want to push the envelope with new mechanics
-There will be an 'evolution' of the morality system
-The protagonist's name is Ryder
-The woman at the end of the EA Play video is a FemRyder
-The goal of this game is to move forward. There will be callbacks to the trilogy however
-Ryder has a family. This family ties into the storyline (Maybe siblings, parents etc)
-ME3 multiplayer was a surprising success but they understand that fans didn't like how it tied into the single player, aims to improve this
-Development in the game is in the final stretch, they only want to show stuff that's totally finished and polished
-The Mako is the only vehicle in the game

Polygon and IGN interviews with Mac Walters/Aaryn Flynn
-Mass Effect 3's ending and your decisions won't affect Andromeda
-Relationships and romances will be more realistic
-Friendships and romances will take into account character temperaments. Some may be harder to talk to.
-Romance won't be limited to checking in a few times, then getting a romance scene.
-Mass Effect Andromeda is a story about becoming a hero
-The characters will be much younger and untested, drawing from themes of feeling out of depth or like an outcast
-Humanity are the aliens this time, it's the story of a stranger in a strange land
-BioWare are aiming for a character that is more than just a typical space marine, someone who recognises the impact their presence is having
-Instead of your character already knowing a lot about the Galaxy like Shepard, you're going to be discovering all of this stuff with them
-You won't have the kind of support Shepard would have. You're not exactly a Spectre this time
-The story of the game will be more personal this time, even though the scale is still grand
-The trilogy will act as a foundational background, but won't be a focus. There will be explainations for new players on what Krogans are, what mass effect field are etc.
-The trilogy was about a cinematic, grand, space opera with a titular character. With Andromeda they want to move away from this
-Instead of saying "You are this person" it's about saying "This is your role and this is the way you can play it"
-Andromeda will still be a human centric story, as it gives the player a foothold in the alien narrative
-In ME1, humans found themselves to be the underdogs in a larger galaxy, and this is ultimately a core theme of Mass Effect, not just the trilogy
-BioWare kept trying to solve the vehicle problem in the trilogy, but this time they've made it a core focus and tried to fix it early in development
-The online component will have no impact on the main story this time. There will be more positive ties between the singleplayer and multiplayer
-The core elements of branching dialogue, relationship building, exploration etc will remain intact
-Andromeda will feel like you're playing Mass Effect for the first time, as the setting/characters are new and unfamiliar, yet nostalgic to returning fans

Yanick Roy (Studio Director)
-RPG elements are of course still there, allowing the player to control the story their way
-BioWare aren't worried about moving on from Shepard, they believe that as long as all the core elements of Mass Effect are there, people will play it
-There will be companions with 'loyalty' missions and new ways to get to know them
-The multiplayer will be similar to ME3's but with more freedom, dynamic gameplay and 'chaos'
-There will be more customisation than we've seen before. We can "own" our environments
-Andromeda is their biggest game ever. Exploration is a major factor, similar to what they tried to achieve in ME1
-Planets will have essentially one biome, inspired by planets from things like Star Wars
-There will be different ways to communicate with the races of Andromeda. Diplomacy, aggressiveness, combat etc
-The order in which you do quests/talk to people may also influence opinion of you and humanity
-We will be able to choose male/female, but they want to go a little bit further with this. More details to come soon
-The female Ryder isn't exactly the default face. There is a bit of a twist this time around but they can't say more yet
-The protagonist's role will be vast, their goal is to find a new home for humanity and the other races accompanying them, requiring a character of many qualities
-There will be references to the trilogy, but not so much as to flood new players with information
-The way the translators will understand the languages of the Andromeda species will be explained
Aaryn Flynn (PlayStation Access and Inside Playstation)
-The trip to Andromeda has taken a really really long time (hundereds of years)
-The game draws parallels to today's space exploration advancements/themes
-The N7 character has nothing to do with Shepard
-New species. Some old, some new, some completely mysterious
-Choices will affect the species you encounter
-Planetary exploration is essentially the same mechanic as ME1, but much MUCH bigger/better with more freedom
-There's much more to the Tempest than meets the eye
-The 'Ark' is a huge part of the story, not just where Ryder wakes up
-Main character will be human, you can choose to play as a male/female Ryder
-There is a sense of continuity in the Mass Effect universe, despite starting fresh in a new Galaxy
-Mass Effect Andromeda is story/characters first, then with a large focus on seamless loading, exploration
-Frostbite has forced them to rebuild everything from the ground up, it's a clean slate in more ways than one
-Mass Effect VR is a possibility

EDIT: New Info (Various Sources such as Twitter and news websites) -Same-Sex romances are still there
-Info about the collectors edition is coming this fall
-As the game runs Frostbyte, the PC hardware requirements will be similar to that of Battlefront and Inquisition
-More news may be coming in weeks instead of months. -Codex entries will be detailed and in-depth as usual
 

CHC

Member
-BioWare are aiming for a character that is more than just a typical space marine, someone who recognises the impact their presence is having

I hope this means you won't wind up just having to blast the shit out of everything anyway. More non-confrontational solutions would be really good.

Also this talk of "having a family" and there being "something about character creation they have yet to reveal" makes me feel like they are going to pull some stupid ass "descendant of Shepard" thing. Who knows.

(Edit: OK saw now they say this character has "nothing to do" with Shepard but given EA's writing quality lately.... I'll believe it when I see it.)

Game sounds pretty fanatastic, though. I'm really pleased it's a new page in the series rather than an unneeded continuation of the trilogy.
 
Interested in the expansion of the multiplayer they described... That could be really interesting.

Definitely. Multiplayer was quite good in ME3. I actually started to do a write-up I never finished about what the Division could learn from ME, especially ME's multiplayer.
 

Sagely

Member
That all sounds hugely promising. I wonder if that tease regarding male/female character creation is being able to create a gender non-binary character? That would be cool.

It seems very much like a "sequel" to the trilogy with huge improvements based on feedback and what went well or badly the first time round, so I'm really hopeful.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Sounds like a lot of PR speak in many of those details but the idea behind the game is interesting. Only problem is who is making it, not really liked the RPG's EA and Bioware have been pumping out. I'm hoping they have taken a long hard look at how they do these kinds of games and learned some lessons but who knows. I hope its good but not holding out hope.
 
Also this talk of "having a family" and there being "something about character creation they have yet to reveal" makes me feel like they are going to pull some stupid ass "descendant of Shepard" thing. Who knows.

(Edit: OK saw now they say this character has "nothing to do" with Shepard but given EA's writing quality lately.... I'll believe it when I see it.)

They might just do what they did for Space Shepard, giving you a short conversation with a relative depending on your chosen background, or you can make reference to "Aunt Carol" when asked about your past.

They probably won't make the character a parent and give them a child that they know and love since that will obviously piss off fans who envisioned their Ryder as gay.
 

RionaaM

Unconfirmed Member
I wish we could play as other races instead of humans. It's a new galaxy, give us something different.
 
The trailer let me a little bit cold, but everything in the info dump has me excited as a Mass Effect fan.

Really glad they are trying to tweak the relationship systems, I still think they did a great job in ME3 (probably the best job done in companions and how they react with you and the other companions depending what you chose, somehting no RPG with companions has gone that extra mile) but still super happy to know they are going to try to expand it even more.
 

nortonff

Hi, I'm nortonff. I spend my life going into threads to say that I don't care about the topic of the thread. It's a really good use of my time.
I'm so hyped for this game.
 
A twist? I'm not sure what this could even be a hint at.

Multiple default faces per gender perhaps? Or something more interesting than that.

edit: This could be how the family ties in. You choose a default face that you can later customize and that's how the appearance of your family is determined. Similar to DA2.
 

Monocle

Member
Sounds mostly great. I get the sense that the devs are shooting for a game like Mass Effect 1, but better in every way. I'm especially excited about the exploration aspect. I actually loved the Mako in the original game, so the prospect of an improved version appeals to me.
 
I hope finding a home doesn't mean colonizing the whole galaxy.

All we need is a nice planet and maybe a moon to keep things pretty at night.

I also hope they're avoiding all the bad colonialism things and going for more of a "we're war immigrants pls let us live here".
 

Astrates

Member
Read through the post earlier and it's some great work compiling it.

I'm definitely looking forward to this, I am in a weird position where I want to see more of this game but without seeing any of this game so I know nothing going in...

I think I need a solid playthrough of a side mission with little impact on story, but I'd like to see if from initiation on the ship, to flying there, landing and then returning to ship.
 
Probably worth adding all this info to the OP since it looks confirmed now after the Tempest confirmation

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1031314

This has been known to be true for a fairly long time now tbh.

I've been dreading this "hundreds of planets to explore! Conquer outposts! Raid vaults! Build colonies!" stuff. I can only imagine this is like monkey paw shit for everyone who's been begging for exploration and vast worlds, just like DA:I.
 

Plasma

Banned
Everything they've said in interviews and what has leaked out from the surveys sounds great, I just wish they'd show more of it.
 
-Relationships and romances will be more realistic
-Friendships and romances will take into account character temperaments. Some may be harder to talk to.
-Romance won't be limited to checking in a few times, then getting a romance scene.

Glad to see that the most important aspect of the Mass Effect series will be improving.
 
This has been known to be true for a fairly long time now tbh.

I've been dreading this "hundreds of planets to explore! Conquer outposts! Raid vaults! Build colonies!" stuff. I can only imagine this is like monkey paw shit for everyone who's been begging for exploration and vast worlds, just like DA:I.

Yeah this is my biggest fear about this game.

I loved the enviroments and the OST of Inqusition but jesus the combat and the eternal grind for points of every kind was soul sucking.
 

Kabouter

Member
I've been dreading this "hundreds of planets to explore! Conquer outposts! Raid vaults! Build colonies!" stuff. I can only imagine this is like monkey paw shit for everyone who's been begging for exploration and vast worlds, just like DA:I.

Yes, this sounds great to me :). I loved the idea and feeling of exploring in Mass Effect 1, even if the random planets were terribly generated and there was nothing interesting to discover on them. I like that this returns to the exploration focus and hopefully they will do justice to it this time. Also, original Mako was awesome, hope this is even better :D
 

Hystzen

Member
Humans being the underdogs being focus is good shame so many moan over being human when it always been about how the human species fits into the universe.
 

dankir

Member
Fucking hype, hundreds of years to reach Andromeda even within the ME universe... crazy.
I'm already feeling all tingly at the thought of exploring all that.
 
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