Mass Effect @lemmy.world stopthatgirl7 @kbin.social 8mo ago

BioWare's endless cryptic teases for Mass Effect and Dragon Age aren't just frustrating, they're arrogant

www.pcgamer.com BioWare's endless cryptic teases for Mass Effect and Dragon Age aren't just frustrating, they're arrogant

The studio's acting like it's on a victory lap, when it should still be on its apology tour.

Games @sh.itjust.works nanoUFO @sh.itjust.works 8mo ago

www.pcgamer.com /biowares-endless-cryptic-teases-for-mass-effect-and-dragon-age-arent-just-frustrating-theyre-arrogant/

54 19

46 comments

It's really sad just how hard Bioware dropped off. From Baldur's Gate and KoTOR to Andromeda and Anthem. Genuinely kinda depressing to see, they used to make such good shit and EA has thoroughly ruined them like they do with every studio they buy out
- Baldur’s Gate 3 this year really showed just how far BioWare has fallen.
  
  Wonder how BioWare felt when they got out-“BioWare RPG”’d by Larian
  
  Hey there is worse: look at Bethesda and starfield!
  
  Eli5? I thought everyone loved that game, I didn't wanna try it cause I don't like turn based
- I actually really liked Andromeda. It was very different than the original trilogy, but was super fun.
  
  Combat is 10/10
  
  Characters and writing were “My face is tired”/10
  
  Is was very forgettable compared to the trilogy. Story was bland, many characters were uninteresting, some where annoying, not much new in terms of mechanics and a bunch of bugs. It wasn't the worst game in recent years, but it was the worst Mass Effect.
- Don't forget Jade Empire, that game was tight
True! No word since 2021 and we get a 30 second spot of an unnamed N7 (which could just be liara in disguise or something) walking with fan service music to brighten it up.

I get that they don't want to shoot their load too early by confirming Shepard will/won't be back but we've had two trailers and some concept art since 2017, it's been almost seven years since Andromeda and there's so little to go on we don't even know what the next game will be about, when, or who will feature.

Personally I hope they just go the "we're fast forwarding to 2700'ish and only Liara and Grunt are still alive." Then have them mentor the next protagonist or something, idk. I think bringing Shepard back will be a colossal mistake, just let them rest. The story is over. You can only pull a Halo 4 from here and ruin the way it ended for them with a sub par follow up story.
- I think bringing Shepard back will be a colossal mistake,
  
  I 100% agree. Bringing back Shepard would completely undercut the whole main theme of the original trilogy. The theme being "This is war, people die in war. You can't save everyone."
  
  This was stressed to us in the first game with Kaiden or Ashley, the suicide mission in the second one, and the third one with previous characters dying because of your decisions.
- I am just assuming this is like 300 years later, and Liara is a mature adult if not a matriarch.
  
  I'd prefer the plot to be centered around Liara sending a QEC linked to her Broker lair on a drone ship to Andromeda after the Reaper war. She has the knowledge of the Andromeda Initiative's existence and knows they were a last ditch effort to save the Milky Way species, so they probably want to reconnect. The Pathfinder like ten years post Andromeda finds it once it gets there and crashes, and Liara gives them a blueprint to retrofit the Nexus into a galactic relay. Meanwhile she spends the next few hundred years building her own with the Broker's resources to connect to it.
  
  Once you drop that plot structure you could fit en entire trilogy between 3 and connecting the two galaxies. I think it would be cool to connect them in climax of the first game and then have a story about the politics of fighting a war against the kett Empire while the Angara/Initiative struggle with new colonists and/or people leaving due to the war. That's just me though.
Imagine you have 2 beloved series. Ruin the love for both with 1 game each. And then be all cryptic when you make another game in this series. People at this point are more sceptical than hyped about them. More scared than excited.
I honestly felt like the latest ME teaser was a clothing ad.
- When I saw the thumbnail I thought they were using N7 day to hock their merch with zero trailers.
  
  Well the trailer was almost nothing, damn close.
Right. It's been how many years? How about some gameplay? Nope, just a bunch of garbage so they can milk some community hype and sell garbage merch
After the shitshow that was Mass Effect Andromeda, and the shitshow that was Anthem, and the wishy washy kowtowing to the online gaming mob demanding a new Dragon Age, I have very little interest in ever playing anything new by Bioware ever again.
Andromeda was the first game I played and I actually really enjoyed it. In comparison to the originals it was obviously not nearly as well written but the exploratory side of it, open world, great combat was really cool.

I can see how coming from the OG series was a step down in terms of storytelling but I stand by the idea and really would like to play another game set in Andromeda and exploring the rebuilding of the Initiative.
- I certainly hope they keep some ideas from Andromeda, especially the jetpack. But it was like playing a bad CW rejected Netflix show.
the whole concept of withholding information for "teasers" is arrogent. i thing they would create more hype and sell more copies if they gave detailed explanations of the games development from start to finish.(with the obvious exclusion of story spoilers)
nah, no thanks, they had their chance with Andromeda and blew it
- Andromeda was an attempt at something a bit different. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't. I enjoyed the game well enough, even if it didn't match the original. But then they just kinda abandoned the franchise. What is there to be excited about? Your setting has been dead since 2017.
  
  I'm far more upset about Dragon Age, which had five years of steady content (hit or miss, but whatever) until it was shelved nearly a decade ago. Again, why am I supposed to be hyped about this? You clearly aren't.
  
  I liked Andromeda, probably helps that I'm an patient gamer and got the games years after release. I liked that the fact that as a story they cut all ties to the original trilogy other than some references. I remember thinking to myself "Holy shit, this alien planet" on the first level.
  
  We spent the original trilogy being told AI is bad. However the Andromeda tried to make the argument that you AI isn't dangerous, we just have to approach a different way. Ryder was a different character of Shepard and that was a good thing. Ryder was never meant to be a reskinned Shepard. Ryder had a lot more skin in the game compared to Shepard's "This is my duty" mindset. I really enjoyed that it felt like it was post-apocalyptic situation with the Andromeda Initiative.
  
  The Kett were extremely interesting until it became clear that they were just a slightly different Reaper/Collector style of species. The true lack of interesting and bizarre aliens was also missed. The original trilogy had the hanar and elcor that looked different from everyone. I always that it was weird that Andromeda didn't have the volus or the drell or any of the minor species.
  
  I wouldn't rate Andromeda terribly however it's not an all time great. It's a solid middle of the pack game.
  
  I am because I fucking love space scifi.

46 comments