Everything we know about Mass Effect Andromeda from E3 2016
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
-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
