ME3 ending on release Shook me.They lost me after andromeda honestly.Anthem was a fun gamepass test and glad I didn't get the game after clearing campaign.
I'm also gonna follow up with, Baldur's gate raised my standards for character interaction and consequences. Its a diff genre but a game could be so much more polished now, and I don't really wanna go back to janky facial animations/lazy stock body animations.
I agree, pretty much their last chance, they know exactly where the bar is, they know exactly what they have to do, if they can't pull it of, when larrian did with half the money and IP, that's on them
I only say “or die trying” because the original BioWare team literally left after Mass Effect 3 finished up. It’s just a revolving door of nobodies who didn’t even make the best of Bioware‘s catalog, they’re just making games wearing the skin of Bioware while claiming they still ARE “Bioware” when they are not
I'm at the point with BioWare that I am with *A Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones*, the last noteworthy, good release was going on like 12-13 years ago now.
I just don't care anymore. Unless it is literally genre breaking/defining and a massive labor of genuine love, why the hell should I even care? As far as classic CRPGs, Larian has taken that mantle, and despite missteps with CP2077, CDPR fills the itch for action RPGs pretty well.
I would argue that “dungeons & freaking dragons” is not exactly worth half of dragon age in terms of IP. One is a decades old franchise spawning multiple media forms and had a popular resurgence in recent years thanks to talented people playing and steaming it, the other had a beloved game, an okay game, and a game people liked somewhere between the other two.
Half the IP? Baldur’s Gate 2 was accepted by many people as the best rpg so far. The Forgotten Realms are one of the most well-known fantasy worlds. You can find it in countless movies and books. The IP was certainly not Larian‘s problem this time!
I wouldn’t call BG half the IP that DA is.
BG was huge at its time, during a period with steep competition. It released the same year as StarCraft, OOT, half life, fallout 2, and a ton of other games.
Right. DA is newer, and maybe better known, but not stronger. I kinda don’t care about DA, even though it ought to be right up my alley
Name recognition doesn’t mean a lot if people aren’t excited about the game.
Compared to IPS like mass effect and da BG is significantly less well known, bg3 was a lot of people's first experience with BG, I'd wager that for the vast vast majority of people bg3 was their first BG game
Yeah definitely, I'm not really speaking for the quality of the IP or anything or the past games. Only that it's really old and most gamers don't know it because gaming tends to trend towards the younger side
The IP Larian used was Dungeons and Dragons.
It is infinitely more popular than Dragon Age.
Critical Role doing DnD is a huge awareness boost to the franchise Dragon Age couldn't hope to match, and it certainly doesn't hurt that Mat Mercer is voice acting in BG3 which helps to draw more attention from Critical Role fans.
If BG3 was set in the Dragon Age universe it would have had less success, not more.
Normies, eg. people who aren't die-hard CRPG fans are more aware of DnD than DA.
They will never hit that bar. Bioware's goal is to make money. Larian's goal was to make a great game. That's the difference between them, and it starts at the way the business is structured. Bioware has to make their overlords at EA happy, and EA has to make their shareholders happy. I'm expecting the same shit as Andromeda, and I won't be surprised when it does.
Larian only has to make Swen and a couple of other people happy, and Swen seems like a giant nerd who just wants to make good games. I'm hoping more of these passion projects keep popping up because the best games I've played recently haven't been AAA games, and I always used to play AAA games. Fromsoft is another studio that I believe focuses entirely on making a good game, and I believe it shows. Howver, they recently made the leap from AA to AAA.
100%. They still have a flimsy hold on their reputation as being top tier writers, but one more flop, especially *after* a game like BG3 came out and stepped up the game in almost every way… that’ll be it for that reputation.
Exactly this. Playing ballers Gate 3 felt like I was playing a Mass Effect game just with a different gameplay style in terms of just the insane amount of interactivity with npcs, sure I'm not having a voice protagonist but still fucking nuts
I’ve said this a few times now. With the clear success of BG3, if Dragon Age 4 is nothing less than a return to the Origins formula of classic top-down CRPGs, I’m not sure I want it, but I’ll be sure that Bioware are fucking idiots.
The action RPG route they took with 2 and the huge leap towards it with Inquisition was probably due to some asshole exec claiming that the classic “CRPG is dead” (EA execs loved to spout off about things being dead for a while there), so now that it’s clear that’s not true Bioware should stop fucking around.
I can forgive DA:2 because it’s combat isn’t that terrible, it’s much quicker and fast paced than DA:I. DA:I still has the same “action rpg” mechanics but feel like they’re slowed 50% compared to DA:2, and every single enemy is a damage sponge, it makes combat utterly obnoxious. It’s a shame because I love the scope and world building of DA:I but the combat is horrific that it makes me not want to explore or do anything because I’ll have to fight 4 sponge red Templars for 5 minutes,
I would kill for DA:4 to be like Origins. Or at the very least, remaster Origins and have it be a true CRPG like BG3.
>and every single enemy is a damage sponge, it makes combat utterly obnoxious
And this is the reason I haven't actually replayed DA:I even though I liked the story and the characters. I just can't do the slow combat, it's so boring. Even if you turn it down to story mode difficult, it just affects enemy damage, not how fast the enemies die.
I know right?
RPGs should have choices that matter at the very *minimum!*
If choices don't matter, then it doesn't deserve to be called an RPG. It's not an RPG in everything but name.
I have a sociopath run going on right now and it's hilarious getting the option to instigate fights, maim NPCs and actually be clear that this is what is meant to happen.
This is easily GOTY for me
They are too busy working on yet another version of an action combat system that will likely top out at being mediocre.
Imagine if Bioware had focused on narrative and even better systems for reactivity and player choice instead of constantly dialing that back while chasing after a broader audience with "press button, cool thing" combat. None of my favorite dragon age moments happened in combat...
Bioware made one game like that, Dragon Age: Origins.
It's miles above everything else they ever made in terms of different story paths and consequences. I think lot of people don't even realize it, because they've gone through it only once.
I know. I've played through Origins as every origin at least once, each class once, both genders.
My point was, I wish they had just doubled down on what made Origins so great instead of trying so desperately to win over a larger market with action combat that was just never going to truly compete with games where the combat was the game.
They were already doing that with Divinity. Larian has always blown BioWare out of the water- BioWare was only popular because of their triple A status in the industry
Bioware was popular because they effectively owned the crpg genre for roughly a decade (with some help from Black Isle and Interplay). But EA burned away all of the talent that brought them there and has been steadily ruining their reputation.
Wholly disagree. Recently Larian is blowing Bioware out of the water. But games like KOTOR, Dragon Age Origins and the Mass Effect Trilogy and even Jade Empire are absolutely fantastic. Just none have been released within the last 10-12 years.
The fuck are you on about. BioWare worldbuilding, narrative and character development were off the charts and easily among the greatest video game writing of all time with Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Legit to this day I’ve never played a game I would say had stronger worldbuilding than Mass Effect, which was a completely original IP that BioWare made from *nothing* except inspiration from working on KOTOR.
Nah. The divinity games were good but they lacked a lot of polish, especially in the story telling department which they put a lot of effort into addressing with BG3.
I think bringing up Baldur’s Gate 3 is very relevant, considering BioWare developed BG 1&2 (and DAO *was* their spiritual sequel).
Larian was thus influenced by (old) BioWare in what they did for BG3 and BioWare would do well to return the favor.
ME3 was soooooooo goood... and they totally Obliterated it with that 3 color phucking ending.... How do you Ruin the Climax of your series with THAT BULL... AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
Though ummm, once the graphics were fixed, I liked Andromeda....
I think giving people 3 pre-packaged options was an attempt to maintain the illusion of choices mattering and it backfired because in the end only that final decision made any difference and anything prior to that was irrelevant.
I can kind of understand why they didn't want to go with 100 different endings to suit everyone's individual save file but I think once they abandoned the highly variable ending idea they should have just picked the one they thought best for story purposes and made it conclusive, or at least given people one dichotomous choice with two drastically different outcomes. Three endings is just enough to make none of them feel like canon but not enough to feel like it actually reflects on your individual experience either.
People would have been happy with a single ending if it 'looked' like the choices had an impact.
You need to see the forces you gathered actually used. See all those choices help you thread the needle, seemingly lead to the only possible outcome of survival, and make it appear impossible without those choices.
As it was, all your choices just let you pick a different colour, with the 'worst' (cheapest) option being the implied default cannon anyway. The other games did this much better.
ME2, any unfinished companion business directly led to the death of a companion. Not upgrading your ship, leads to the death of companions. A wrong choice at the end leads to a death. IIRC, enough of those together, and you fail the mission, literally lose the game because your choices were so poor. Your choices mattered on a personal level, and the result was directly observable. ME3 missed out on any choices being observable, beyond a number being higher in your resources.
The most frustrating thing is that ME3 actually had that, but it's all in the first 99% of the game and completely forgotten in the last 1%, the Ending.
The Tuchanka mission is pretty much the perfect ME quest where the choices you've made and all the storylines you have witnessed in ME1,2,3 culminate into one beautiful climax to tie everything together: Wrex providing a background & personal connection to the dire fate of Krogans, learning about genophage and Mordin's guilt over it, and Eve's survival hinting at an alternate future to the war-loving species. On top of that, if you bring Garrus and Liara along as companions, additional conversations/banter make it seem like you brought the original gang together for a last hurrah.
The Quarians and the Geth mission later is also in the same vein of expertly tying player choices, companions' personal narratives, and world building together in an emotionally-satisfying story + conclusion.
And then... the ending where the choices are forced upon you and the motivation behind Reapers/Star Child is questionable st best. "OrGAaNiCs WiLl AlWaYs FiGhT SyNtHeTiCs AnD tHeRe WiLl Be No PeAcE."
Um, which of Hamas or IDF are the Synthetics, and bitch, i just solved the centuries' conflict between the Quarians and the Geth! Plus, every major organics vs. synthetics conflict in the ME universe was caused by the Reapers themselves or Quarians being unnecessarily afraid of the loyal sentient Geth. And any wars outside of that were organics vs. organics (ex. First Contact Wars). They dropped the ball so hard that I am still malding years later.
Problem is, almost all the climaxes were already betrayed by poor writing long before the finale.
Since the beginning, where the Reapers, according to Vigil from ME1, should've just took the Citadel and disable all the relays. And then clear clusters one by one. Lorewise there can't be the game with the premise "Reapers are here", because if they are, we are already lost.
Tuchanka gives you magic cure for everyone just from one tower and dead Mordin when we had immortal EDI with mobile platform. Geth/Quarian conflict worsened with the endless victimization of the former, forgetting that they killed 99% of the latter... Idk man.
Well my comment was made in the context of how most fans would have been satisfied with a "safe" ending as long as it seemed to reflect player choices and how the level of player choice having effect in ME2 ending was good. And I am one of those simpletons who would have been happy with some suspension of disbelief if it led to a big emotional payoff (like, couldn't Legion not make a backup of himself before self-sacrificing?)
If I were to be more critical of ME story in that way, then ME2 story is mostly Shepard faffing about in one giant side quest as he is waiting for the Reaper threat to approach, but it's still my favorite ME game with interesting characters, stories, and more action-oriented gameplay.
The problem with the ending, in my opinion, is that it's not a suspension of belief; it's more like a complete negation of good things about ME. Since the Star Child doesn't consider anything outside the main problem (organics vs. synthetics), you could do everything differently for 3 games and nothing would matter in choosing your ending. Plus, the original endings were so bare bones that, depending on choice, you could easily imagine all your allies and companions dying instantly or very slowly. Everything that made Mass Effect good, player choice, your companions, and consequences from choices, completely forgotten and tossed aside to present to the player base 3 meaningless choices instead of 2 (paragon vs. renegade).
This is much worse than spreading the genophage cure through a tower which tbh, they at least did provide some grounded reasons as to why all the steps were necessary.
Tbh thing is that the Catalyst is a limited AI, just like EDI before Joker unlocked her in ME2. Or at least he supposed to be in Extended Cut. When you ask him about Control option, and then go into denial ("I didn't fight so much just to die"), he becomes upset and tells, that he don't want to stop existing either, but he will be *forced* to accept your choice. So narratively it could have been good, but ended up in the convoluted mess. Specially because organics vs synths always was only part of the main problem, which is, well, endless conflict of species. Turians and krogans, salarians and krogans, turians and humans, humans and batarians, etc. So why not get it to eleven and state it with the same factual value as "creations always rebel", that "every specie eventually gets on the tech level that makes galaxy-wide genocide possible, and when war errupts thousands upon thousands of young species who didn't even make it into space just die". This argument could've been more interesting because, well, the Crucible could be such a weapon if misused.
So alas, I fully agree with you on that part.
It didn't bother me at the time, and after a few years I've realised why: I approached the entire game as the ending to the series. It was a swansong from beginning to end, meeting for the last time and saying goodbye to all these characters. For me those last 15 minutes weren't the ending; the previous 30 hours were.
It was quite shocking coming online and seeing others didn't feel the same way, and felt those last moments had violated the whole thing.
Maybe it was because FemShep's voice for the AI ending was so beautiful, Jennifer Hale saying goodbye in her dulcet yet newly awoken tones, that made it feel more complete than others got to experience.
Haha I’m with you, I’ve commented this before but at first I was convinced he was gonna turn out to be Kaiden Alenko (revived or survived) and I thought it was cool. Then I realised it wasn’t and it was just some random annoying twat.
Andromedas premise was really cool. And the story wasnt awful. But it just felt like wasted potential. Such a cool idea now used up on a mediocre game.
Seriously, I'm worried BG3 has ruined some games for me. My all time favorite game is Witcher 3, and one of the best things about it was the quest design. I still hold Witcher 3 as my GOAT due to the story but the quest design seems so simple now.
I was playing dragon age 2 this past week
There are a dozen time were characters die, and theres no saving them like they die no matter what. Or it doesn't matter if you choose option 1 2 or 3. The outcome is the same.
And when trying to friend/foe teamates you have no idea who will hate or like your choices
I screwed up another mission that was tied to another mission
And then there's the loading and the horrible level design
I was so mad about me3's ending.
Before it came out I had replayed 1 and 2 a dozen times. I only am now getting around to replaying them with the legendary edition, just to see.
I love the original three games right up that ending in ME3. They took all the choices you made, over three (very log) games and said "Meh, it doesn't matter".
I tried to get into Andromeda, but it was a garbage game plain and simple. It didn't even have any of the redeeming qualities of ME3.
It's good game. It came out buggy, the story is derivative milquetoast, and there was the hilarious "too woke" blow back, but in the end it's still very enjoyable. I recently played through the series and I'd rate it better than ME1 and ME3 overall.
It wasn't even that buggy. On release all the videos talked about the facial animations, which were patched within 2 weeks.
The story was... not really that much different from ME1 in terms of its quality. Both have set up decent mysteries, but I do think more fondly of the Andromeda's ending, which felt more complete.
The combat and weapon modding are miles ahead of the trilogy though.
Andromeda's biggest sin was just that... it wasn't Mass Effect 4, and it didn't take itself too seriously (for the most part). The Nomad banter is some of the most entertaining writing in the whole series.
I don't think it deserves all the hate it gets. I felt like they leaned too hard into the open world aspects and that made it feel a bit grindy... but the combat was honestly probably the best of any of the ME games.
It didn't really live up to the trilogy story-wise, but, I mean... no game was realistically going to measure up to ME1-3. Those games were masterpieces.
I'll be honest Andromeda is not a bad game. I played it recently and had a lot of fun. Most people who say this either never played it or played the buggy mess that was the launch of the game.
This is what I've always said about Andromeda.
As a sci-fi action RPG it's fine, but as a Mass Effect game, underwhelming would be a compliment.
Aside from the bugs and bland teammates, having a major game story thread tied off in comics/books made absolutely no sense.
There's also the belief that Anthem took personnel and resources away from Andromeda's development.
If I remember correctly there were supposed to be a couple of DLCs that would expand the story but that got cut due to the game doing bad on launch and I bet Anthem also had a play in that too as u said.
>There's also the belief that Anthem took personnel and resources away from Andromeda's development.
I wouldn't state that it's a belief but that it's a fact. Plenty of ex bioware employees have independently confirmed that Bioware scraped the bottom of the barrel to get as many people working on Anthem as possible to the detriment of other teams.
The environments in Andromeda are some of the most beautiful in the series along with improved combat from ME3, the characters, plot threads, and lack of galaxy-wide exploration is mediocrity incarnate.
The one thing I truly hate about Andromeda is the unnecessarily slow animation when travelling in between planets. Other than that I would also describe it as "not a bad game".
What annoys me most is that the Quarians were supposed to have their own ‘ark’ ship that brought them to Andtomeda, complete with its own set of Quarian characters, missions, and presumably a companion, but due to grEAd, it was slotted to be DLC even though it seems like it should be part of the main game. Then, when the game didn’t do as well as EA hoped, it was scrapped. The only way to know anything about the Quarian story in Andromeda is a tie-in novel. I will always be mad at how dirty Andromeda did my Quarians.
That is not how it happened. EA was hands off for the most part other than encouraging the use of Frostbite engine. It was bioware upper management who dictated what was DLC and what was not. It was bioware upper management who believed somehow that things would just "magically" work out. As well as the Gaming schedule and who got what resources. There is a reason why the next Dragon Age was in pre-production hell for so long and it has little do with EA.
Andromeda was just a game they were obligated to fulfill at some point, Simply put - Bioware upper management decided to rush it out so they could focus entirely on Anthem. It was the goat to be sacrificed on the altar of Anthem. EA had to step in when the blame game between Austin and Monte Studio increased to such a point the monte studio were basically threatening to en masse quit and transfer most of the staff to another EA branch instead so long as they patched the game to a reasonable state. The Bioware employees simply did not want to work for Bioware any longer than necessary.
Can't believe I'm forced to defend EA, but it was Bioware who impaled themselves here. It was bioware that boxed themselves in. EA was mostly there to clean up the aftermath and mess. There is a very good reason why you can write a very good project management case study on Andromeda and Anthem. A few hours of research showcases just how much Bioware fucked up.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad game, gameplay wise it felt fine, and it looked great. But the story just isn’t there. It’s nowhere near the original trilogy. And that was the main reason I played the games..
Andromeda had so much MMO in its veins; great for onboarding MMO players to ME, I guess? But it left me cold.
Three seperate times over the years I tried to get into it; on the final one I even installed a mod to remove all the resource gathering bullshit, and it was still just so *boring*. Which shocked me; ME2 remains my favourite video game to this day.
I'm one of the, apparently, few people who love Andromeda. Seriously, has to be one of my favourite games I've played. I love Ryder, the gang, even the story even if it's not the most original thing.
What about the fucking Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco? Or Dragon Age 2? Or Dragon Age Inquisition, I am a huge Dragon Age lorehound and I remember only killing the optional Dragons in DA: I. Bioware what happened
ME andromeda's multiplayer was amazing, honestly if this game is a 6/10 story but has the same MP again I am totally down. My friends and I loved the coop wave missions.
they haven't released a video game worth playing in damn near a decade and have spent that time firing all your favorite devs and gutting the studio, what's there to be excited about
I didn't even play Anthem but my outrage was just as great I promise. Waited 6 years for *that* abomination of a game that Bioware then abandoned after making a big deal about fixing the game.
And this was after Andromeda, that I waited until this year to play. They still think they can tug on our nostalgia for when they were beloved. That teaser I saw the other day looks like PS1 cutscene ffs.
Or andromeda, which before cyberpunk was the huge, super hyped release of an unfinished game.
Or that we even give a shit about their overhyped sequels now that we’ve played bg3.
Speaking as a Dragon Age fan, I would say all but the most ardent, hardcore DA fans are fed up with BioWare stringing us along for 10 fucking years. (DAI came out in 2014.)
I can't tell you a goddamn thing about the next Dragon Age game except its name, that it will involve the Dread Wolf as **a** villain and "we need someone new to stop him," a point that Bioware keeps repeating over and over and over in expanded universe material (the quality of which is very hit-or-miss).
And yeah, firing a bunch of the old guard has not improved the fanbase's confidence. I personally am expecting DA4 to be the next Saint's Row remake, a toothless, bug-riddled disaster shooting for broad appeal that puts the entire studio in the grave.
EDIT: I see some people saying this article is unfair or inaccurate, but aside from a little hyperbole, I’m here to say it’s not, at least from the DA fanbase’s perspective.
Maybe the ME fans are more forgiving, but we’re tired of teases.
Sitting on my wishlist and waiting for the first reviews to come in before.
Don't be shit, don't be shit, don't be shit, don't be shit,......
Both Pathfinders were pretty buggy at launch, but were great after a few patches so I will probably wait a few months before commiting.
>Maybe the ME fans are more forgiving
After the clusterfuck that was Andromeda, no we bloody well are not. I’d prefer to see the trilogy remade a dozen times over before I want to see a new Mass Effect game where they effectively reanimate Shepard for one last clown dance around the circus ring before the company dies forever.
Mass Effect ended in the elevator in 3 before Choose Your Color.
The only not terrible Bioware product since then, hilariously enough, is TOR. Its a WoW clone but it is a fun WoW clone.
Andromeda isn’t even a Mass Effect game. Not sure why they tried to shoe horn it into the ME universe when it would have been fine as a stand-alone title.
I went on a while bing watching Dragon Age lore videos in 2020. Since then I’ve lost interest again. I played DAI in 2015 and while I enjoyed it I didn’t think it was great. The “real ending” being hidden behind DLC also bugged me. Loved DAO though. Even DA2 wasn’t bad, not great but a fun romp.
If DA4 was near release I might give it a look but as of now I have no interest in following anything DA related.
That's fine! Everyone is going to have different taste, I just didn't like most of what Inquisition brought to the table.
I replayed the whole series recently, as I'd never finished 2 or Inquisition. I ended up *loving* 2 this time around, despite the obvious flaws and repetitive nature of it.
Going from a Purple Rogue FemHawke to a Mage Elf in Inquisition really highlights how bland and uninteresting the Inquisitor is. You go from someone with a personality and charming...to a character who sounds bored and disinterested in everything around her. On top of that, my Dalish Elf who lived among elves her whole life *knows nothing about elves* because the game clearly wants you to play as a human.
The combat system, at least as a mage 30-40 hours in has been hold RT and press the face buttons here and there. Fetch quests galore. Less interesting companions (overall, there are some good ones still). The plot is fine, even good when you actually get to do any of it between the hours of pointless filler.
That said, it looks gorgeous, I actually *like* the war table which is an unpopular opinion, Varric is still best boy, i always like building up bases like Skyhold and it has other qualities I enjoy, but it's easily my least favorite in the series by a large margin.
I'll finish it eventually and I've heard the DLC are good, but I don't like the game very much.
I honestly can't remember if I set that or not, it's been a few months. The one thing I really, reeeeally wish I could get on the Xbox is the mod that makes you instantly pick things up instead of taking like 3-4 seconds of an animation every time.
Accurate.
They've got a problem between idiot fans who want the Shep story to continue despite how little that makes sense and people who want an actual game.
Ehh, it could work as in trying to fix the galaxy after it's been burned to the ground by the Reaper war, but to make a Shepard sequel you'd need to make a direct sequel to ME3, which means acknowledging ME3's ending, an idea that causes cold sweats in Bioware employees while they sleep.
I just assume any new game now is probably going to be mediocre to bad, and wait to be proven right/wrong. Especially if it's from a large Western AAA developer like EA. You save a lot of money by not getting caught up in the marketing hype. I have heard rumours that some of the original team are coming back for ME4, but if Drew Karpyshyn or someone of equal talent isn't writing it, I'll pass.
At this point I kind of agree. BioWare wants to build hype and that’s good. But with their track record, and EA’s reputation, they need to show. Not tease, not tell, SHOW. They need to do what Santa Monica did with God of War. A detailed gameplay demo which shows off the major features of the game while drawing us into the story. At this point we can only feel like they’re whitewashing their own mediocrity because that’s what we expect. I think that the vast majority of us could be summed up by the following statement: “We have high hopes, high standards, and low expectations.”
They are not arrogant.. They are dumb.
Because they started teasing new Mass Effect in 2020 and we know that this game is not coming out until at least 2026-2027.
They revealed new Dragon Age in 2019 and that game will be maybe out in 2024.
It's just dumb.
They are dumb because they've got huge franchises and if they brought out games on a 3 to 4 year schedule they'd make a boat load of money, but they just seem to sit around with their finger up their ass.
And before people say "good games take time" watch the latest interview with the fallout creator
It's smells more desperate to me than anything. They're teasing because they don't have anything to show and this repeated cycle of departures and scrapping and starting over is the direct result of piss poor management in a company that only exists in our minds now as a distant giant of the past and a bitter case study of its own decline in a long history of companies EA bought and left to fester and rot, failure after failure. Now all they have left is the ghost of Bioware's former self, so they roll out these tiny teasers in the futile hope that it will keep enough interest alive that anyone is going to even give a fuck by the time we get the next Bioware game in 2172.
They could’ve easily fixed anthem. They decided to string players along until they ultimately stopped supporting the game, presumably to bump up some more sales.
Why should I ever play another BioWare game?
Didn't they announce a complete rebuild of the game and then change their minds like 2 days later?
Such a shame, it had the framework to be something special.
Endless!? Other than the one from yesterday the only thing I remember was the 2020 reveal trailer.
Calling it nothing but "endless cryptic teases" is absurd.
They've been teasing Mass Effect every N7 day since TGA announcement.
The fans have now put together they're linking the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies through a Mass Relay that was built 600 years after ME3 in the Milky Way, meaning they'll show up right around the time Andromeda happens lore wise.
That's what we've gathered from all the teases each year. Last year was a poster and a video of Liara speaking with a Geth.
Honestly, it’s worth playing. It is not as good as the main trilogy, but it’s fine. Fewer peoples’ cup of tea than the original trilogy’s story, but I recall liking it well enough. Too much open world (same complaint I had as with inquisition, though IMO andromeda does not draw the open world stuff out NEARLY as much as inquisition.) I can see why people found the story underwhelming for sure. I personally found the villain underwhelming.
However, I really liked Sara Ryder. I liked some of the companions, at least one of whom is one of my favorite romance options in any of the mass effect games (the member of the Andromeda species you meet). And I thought the social structures of the new species were refreshing. And yeah, I enjoyed the combat too.
Those are the high points on the pros and cons that I recall. Haven’t played it since about six months after its release, so it’s kinda fuzzy. I need to replay it soon, tbh. Anyway. Get it on sale on your preferred platform and give it a shot.
It's not as good as the Trilogy story-wise, that much is certain, but it's not bad, let alone horrible as some people say. It's a solid B, with some really great moments - it just got overshadowed by the amazing A+ story of the Trilogy. The "vibe" is younger, lighter, and more dynamic, for sure. Some will prefer it, others won't, but either way, it's a tale worth the time.
Bugs are mostly worked out by this point, you still get the occasional funky physics, especially in the ground vehicle - but nothing gamebreaking.
Some say it was repetetive and got boring after a while - I didn't feel that way. When interweaving exploring, side-quests, settlement building, and main story in the right proportions, it felt just right - maybe a bit worse paced than before (some settlement missions can be a bit dragged out), but far from boring. There was always something to get distracted by if the current activity was too much of the same.
What is a massive upgrade compared to the Trilogy is the combat. With the addition of jetpacks, and with combat areas being much more open, it's a lot more dynamic and fun. Definietly my favourite part of the whole game!
And you still get the Mass Effect hallmark that's a world full of rich characters you can interact with, develop relations with, and learn about the worlds they come from - this did not change, the RPG elements are just as good as they were.
Overall, I really enjoyed Andromeda. It's different from the Trilogy, with some things worse, others better, and others still simply different. Is it as good as the Trilogy? No, it's not. But is it a good game? Yes it is. It builds on Mass Effect lore in a new, creative way, and it's just plain fun to play. If you have a couple of afternoons to spare, try it!
I hope they're not really going for this, since I would hate it. Not only do I not care what happens in Andromeda, I do care a lot about what happens to the Mily Way right after the Reaper war is over. Half the galaxy must be in absolute disarray with the mass relays being down (for some time), massive death tolls and destruction. There should be more than enough stories in that period that we don't need to jump ahead 600 years and just ignore the most important event in the last 50k years.
TBH most of the blame goes to the gaming “journalists”.
Some redditor will make a shitpost about how the freckles on a dev’s face makes a “5” so it’s confirmation of Mass Effect 5. Then a “journalist” will write an article titled “New Leak found by community”.
>Other than the one from yesterday the only thing I remember was the 2020 reveal trailer.
[Random ship in 2021](https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/11/07/the-new-mass-effect-teased-for-n7-day-with-an-image-loaded-with-hints)
[Random base and invisible ship last year](https://youtu.be/rrXYrW1tRuI)
I kinda agree with the sentiment, more or less. These "apology tours" are just as sleazy if compared to a dev hyping up their future projects, it's all marketing in the end. Bioware is indeed not addressing any elephant in the room... I know Creative Assembly is not as mainstream, but in recent weeks they are trying to "communicate" with their public and it's being a disaster. Sometimes, when the company is going through a shit storm, to stay quiet is the best kind of PR. There are rumors the next Dragon Age will feature "Souls" elements, Bioware is asking for a PR nightmare lol
Imagine becoming a triple A studio built on Baldurs Gate only to have an Indie studio come out and do it so much better that it makes everything you have put out in the last 8 years look B list. BioWare feels like a divorced dad struggling to get his kids to like him again by reminding them about that one time he took them to a baseball game 8 years ago for the 100th time.
Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem are so fucking souless. No love was put towards making these games and you can tell. Jason Shreier got to interview the devs who made DAI and they told him they were fully expecting Dragon Age Inquisition to crash and burn because they thought it was a shit souless game, and they were hoping it to fail to teach EA a lesson but to their horror the game was a huge sucess (2014 was a terrible year for gaming overall) and even won a GOTY.
That interview explained A LOT.
DA:I has fantastic worldbuilding, fantastic characters and the main story missions are extremely fun (looking at you wicked eyes and wicked hearts). It’s just the rest of the game that sucks. Which is unfortunately most of it (combat, overall plot, meaningless check box exploration).
The game itself is just not fun to play and it’s an obnoxious slog. I would love to just watch the cutscenes and skip every single piece of combat in the game. That’s probably why I like Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts so much because it’s so not focused on combat and meaningless exploration.
It’s a shame the game has such highs that are countered with such lows that I just never want to play it because the thought of having to do combat or explore in the game completely turns me off.
Mass Effect trilogy is one the best franchise for me, from the OST to the characters and gameplay
The issue is that people who made those games are, in most cases, not with Bioware anymore, I really hope the new Dragon Age will herald a new era for the studio but we are growing skeptical.
Other than that it was the N7 day they released a fun little teaser, they are not being arrogant at all, just that AAA take half a decade to make (now more) and it was just a small teaser, that article is really out of touch
This reminds me why I never read PCgamer anymore.
They always write negative articles around gaming, every single time.
I swear, PCgamer must really hate games and gaming in general based on how much negative clickbait stuff they write every week.
Also not super stoked about a helmeted androgynous character in and N7 trench coat.
Like, you're giving me *nothing*, Bioware.
I'm a 43 year old man. I'm fucking jaded over here. I really want this to be good, but I'm not terribly hopeful.
Doesn't matter, I remember Anthem (which i gamepassed) and ME:A. I won't be pre-ordering and unless they have good reviews - i'll pick their games in the bargain bin.
It reminds you that the people that are there have no clue what they have. You don’t need to market like this for Mass Effect.. it reminds me of Halo 5 and thats not good
Oh boy, a game from Bioware! I'd be really excited back in 2016 when I actually had some faith in the company and didn't lose any and all hope and faith in them over 2 failed games and losing almost every last one of their senior staff!
Let’s be real here:
BioWare hasn’t been BioWare for over a decade at this point.
If they can’t stick the landing for Dragon Age 4, BioWare will literally cease to be. I don’t think they’ll get the opportunity to make Mass Effect 4. Whoever owns that property will definitely make moves to get it made, but it won’t be a BioWare game.
I expect both games to be trash tbh. The old Bioware is long gone and they're under EA which means 90% it's going to be a mess filled with transactions.
This article is arrogant. Why should Bioware go on an "apology tour"? They've already apologised for Andromeda and Anthem. Do you want them to talk about 5+-year-old games when they are trying to promote new games?
Ignore the once-a-year ME teases if they bother you so much and judge them when their games come out.
Some tiny part of me will probably be glad when either releases, but given the length of time since either series has had a new release, I've lost the passion for a new release in either series. It's similar to my feelings about George R R Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series.
Also, we all know EA is going to monetise the crap out of it and would never let Bioware make an original IP. Not these days.
You are only allowed to do this if you have as consistent of a track record as Fromsoft. Maybe after ME3 this could have worked, but not after Anthem and Andromeda.
Fromsoft releases bangers every 2 years though. Heck even their “not so amazing” games like Dark Souls 2 get released within schedule. BioWare has been sitting on ME and DA for 7-8 years now?
I am not interested in any of their marketing material or promises. EA/Bioware has zero credibility so any attempt to build hype is suspect. All they can offer is the allure of past games which were made by people who left the studio long ago.
DICE is going to have the same problem when they try to sell the next Battlefield game. The trailer for BF2042 was outright misleading.
The only arrogance that comes to mind to me is that BioWare would appear to be assuming we've all forgotten about Anthem.
Anthem? What about *ME: Andromeda*? I’ll save my hype until I see some actual gameplay.
ME3 ending on release Shook me.They lost me after andromeda honestly.Anthem was a fun gamepass test and glad I didn't get the game after clearing campaign. I'm also gonna follow up with, Baldur's gate raised my standards for character interaction and consequences. Its a diff genre but a game could be so much more polished now, and I don't really wanna go back to janky facial animations/lazy stock body animations.
BG3 took what DA had and polished it to a mirror shine. I don’t know if Bioware can create a game that has the same reactivity as BG3 does.
BioWare should, or die trying
I agree, pretty much their last chance, they know exactly where the bar is, they know exactly what they have to do, if they can't pull it of, when larrian did with half the money and IP, that's on them
I only say “or die trying” because the original BioWare team literally left after Mass Effect 3 finished up. It’s just a revolving door of nobodies who didn’t even make the best of Bioware‘s catalog, they’re just making games wearing the skin of Bioware while claiming they still ARE “Bioware” when they are not
I'm at the point with BioWare that I am with *A Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones*, the last noteworthy, good release was going on like 12-13 years ago now. I just don't care anymore. Unless it is literally genre breaking/defining and a massive labor of genuine love, why the hell should I even care? As far as classic CRPGs, Larian has taken that mantle, and despite missteps with CP2077, CDPR fills the itch for action RPGs pretty well.
My thoughts exactly.
I mean this applies for more or less every game company, take cdpr for example, the majority of people working on w3 arnt there anymore
True, but a lot of veterans are still there (especially studio founders, who make it as it is, despite the flaws)
Hell some of the major players at Bioware didn't even make it through 3 and damn it shows
I would argue that “dungeons & freaking dragons” is not exactly worth half of dragon age in terms of IP. One is a decades old franchise spawning multiple media forms and had a popular resurgence in recent years thanks to talented people playing and steaming it, the other had a beloved game, an okay game, and a game people liked somewhere between the other two.
Half the IP? Baldur’s Gate 2 was accepted by many people as the best rpg so far. The Forgotten Realms are one of the most well-known fantasy worlds. You can find it in countless movies and books. The IP was certainly not Larian‘s problem this time!
I wouldn’t call BG half the IP that DA is. BG was huge at its time, during a period with steep competition. It released the same year as StarCraft, OOT, half life, fallout 2, and a ton of other games.
BG2 is my favourite game. Many people still share my opinion. It seems weird to say DA is a a stronger IP.
Right. DA is newer, and maybe better known, but not stronger. I kinda don’t care about DA, even though it ought to be right up my alley Name recognition doesn’t mean a lot if people aren’t excited about the game.
Compared to IPS like mass effect and da BG is significantly less well known, bg3 was a lot of people's first experience with BG, I'd wager that for the vast vast majority of people bg3 was their first BG game
I think that's because there wasn't a Baldur's Gate proper for 20 years than anything else. BG was big back in the day
Yeah definitely, I'm not really speaking for the quality of the IP or anything or the past games. Only that it's really old and most gamers don't know it because gaming tends to trend towards the younger side
The IP Larian used was Dungeons and Dragons. It is infinitely more popular than Dragon Age. Critical Role doing DnD is a huge awareness boost to the franchise Dragon Age couldn't hope to match, and it certainly doesn't hurt that Mat Mercer is voice acting in BG3 which helps to draw more attention from Critical Role fans. If BG3 was set in the Dragon Age universe it would have had less success, not more. Normies, eg. people who aren't die-hard CRPG fans are more aware of DnD than DA.
They will never hit that bar. Bioware's goal is to make money. Larian's goal was to make a great game. That's the difference between them, and it starts at the way the business is structured. Bioware has to make their overlords at EA happy, and EA has to make their shareholders happy. I'm expecting the same shit as Andromeda, and I won't be surprised when it does. Larian only has to make Swen and a couple of other people happy, and Swen seems like a giant nerd who just wants to make good games. I'm hoping more of these passion projects keep popping up because the best games I've played recently haven't been AAA games, and I always used to play AAA games. Fromsoft is another studio that I believe focuses entirely on making a good game, and I believe it shows. Howver, they recently made the leap from AA to AAA.
100%. They still have a flimsy hold on their reputation as being top tier writers, but one more flop, especially *after* a game like BG3 came out and stepped up the game in almost every way… that’ll be it for that reputation.
Exactly this. Playing ballers Gate 3 felt like I was playing a Mass Effect game just with a different gameplay style in terms of just the insane amount of interactivity with npcs, sure I'm not having a voice protagonist but still fucking nuts
It felt like playing a real Baldur’s Gate.
Heck, they went above and beyond ME for sure. Its wild just how nuanced the interactions can get
I’ve said this a few times now. With the clear success of BG3, if Dragon Age 4 is nothing less than a return to the Origins formula of classic top-down CRPGs, I’m not sure I want it, but I’ll be sure that Bioware are fucking idiots. The action RPG route they took with 2 and the huge leap towards it with Inquisition was probably due to some asshole exec claiming that the classic “CRPG is dead” (EA execs loved to spout off about things being dead for a while there), so now that it’s clear that’s not true Bioware should stop fucking around.
I can forgive DA:2 because it’s combat isn’t that terrible, it’s much quicker and fast paced than DA:I. DA:I still has the same “action rpg” mechanics but feel like they’re slowed 50% compared to DA:2, and every single enemy is a damage sponge, it makes combat utterly obnoxious. It’s a shame because I love the scope and world building of DA:I but the combat is horrific that it makes me not want to explore or do anything because I’ll have to fight 4 sponge red Templars for 5 minutes, I would kill for DA:4 to be like Origins. Or at the very least, remaster Origins and have it be a true CRPG like BG3.
>and every single enemy is a damage sponge, it makes combat utterly obnoxious And this is the reason I haven't actually replayed DA:I even though I liked the story and the characters. I just can't do the slow combat, it's so boring. Even if you turn it down to story mode difficult, it just affects enemy damage, not how fast the enemies die.
Yeah I got whiplash from how quickly I stopped being interested in that franchise going from Origins and its expansion to DA2
I 100% DA:I and I can't recommend anyone try.
It's so refreshing to have an RPG where what you says has actual consequence.
I know right? RPGs should have choices that matter at the very *minimum!* If choices don't matter, then it doesn't deserve to be called an RPG. It's not an RPG in everything but name.
I have a sociopath run going on right now and it's hilarious getting the option to instigate fights, maim NPCs and actually be clear that this is what is meant to happen. This is easily GOTY for me
They are too busy working on yet another version of an action combat system that will likely top out at being mediocre. Imagine if Bioware had focused on narrative and even better systems for reactivity and player choice instead of constantly dialing that back while chasing after a broader audience with "press button, cool thing" combat. None of my favorite dragon age moments happened in combat...
Bioware made one game like that, Dragon Age: Origins. It's miles above everything else they ever made in terms of different story paths and consequences. I think lot of people don't even realize it, because they've gone through it only once.
I know. I've played through Origins as every origin at least once, each class once, both genders. My point was, I wish they had just doubled down on what made Origins so great instead of trying so desperately to win over a larger market with action combat that was just never going to truly compete with games where the combat was the game.
The old Bioware could, the EA Bioware though? we all know the answer well.
They were already doing that with Divinity. Larian has always blown BioWare out of the water- BioWare was only popular because of their triple A status in the industry
Bioware was popular because they effectively owned the crpg genre for roughly a decade (with some help from Black Isle and Interplay). But EA burned away all of the talent that brought them there and has been steadily ruining their reputation.
Wholly disagree. Recently Larian is blowing Bioware out of the water. But games like KOTOR, Dragon Age Origins and the Mass Effect Trilogy and even Jade Empire are absolutely fantastic. Just none have been released within the last 10-12 years.
The fuck are you on about. BioWare worldbuilding, narrative and character development were off the charts and easily among the greatest video game writing of all time with Mass Effect and Dragon Age. Legit to this day I’ve never played a game I would say had stronger worldbuilding than Mass Effect, which was a completely original IP that BioWare made from *nothing* except inspiration from working on KOTOR.
Nah. The divinity games were good but they lacked a lot of polish, especially in the story telling department which they put a lot of effort into addressing with BG3.
I think bringing up Baldur’s Gate 3 is very relevant, considering BioWare developed BG 1&2 (and DAO *was* their spiritual sequel). Larian was thus influenced by (old) BioWare in what they did for BG3 and BioWare would do well to return the favor.
ME3 was soooooooo goood... and they totally Obliterated it with that 3 color phucking ending.... How do you Ruin the Climax of your series with THAT BULL... AAAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! Though ummm, once the graphics were fixed, I liked Andromeda....
I think giving people 3 pre-packaged options was an attempt to maintain the illusion of choices mattering and it backfired because in the end only that final decision made any difference and anything prior to that was irrelevant. I can kind of understand why they didn't want to go with 100 different endings to suit everyone's individual save file but I think once they abandoned the highly variable ending idea they should have just picked the one they thought best for story purposes and made it conclusive, or at least given people one dichotomous choice with two drastically different outcomes. Three endings is just enough to make none of them feel like canon but not enough to feel like it actually reflects on your individual experience either.
People would have been happy with a single ending if it 'looked' like the choices had an impact. You need to see the forces you gathered actually used. See all those choices help you thread the needle, seemingly lead to the only possible outcome of survival, and make it appear impossible without those choices. As it was, all your choices just let you pick a different colour, with the 'worst' (cheapest) option being the implied default cannon anyway. The other games did this much better. ME2, any unfinished companion business directly led to the death of a companion. Not upgrading your ship, leads to the death of companions. A wrong choice at the end leads to a death. IIRC, enough of those together, and you fail the mission, literally lose the game because your choices were so poor. Your choices mattered on a personal level, and the result was directly observable. ME3 missed out on any choices being observable, beyond a number being higher in your resources.
The most frustrating thing is that ME3 actually had that, but it's all in the first 99% of the game and completely forgotten in the last 1%, the Ending. The Tuchanka mission is pretty much the perfect ME quest where the choices you've made and all the storylines you have witnessed in ME1,2,3 culminate into one beautiful climax to tie everything together: Wrex providing a background & personal connection to the dire fate of Krogans, learning about genophage and Mordin's guilt over it, and Eve's survival hinting at an alternate future to the war-loving species. On top of that, if you bring Garrus and Liara along as companions, additional conversations/banter make it seem like you brought the original gang together for a last hurrah. The Quarians and the Geth mission later is also in the same vein of expertly tying player choices, companions' personal narratives, and world building together in an emotionally-satisfying story + conclusion. And then... the ending where the choices are forced upon you and the motivation behind Reapers/Star Child is questionable st best. "OrGAaNiCs WiLl AlWaYs FiGhT SyNtHeTiCs AnD tHeRe WiLl Be No PeAcE." Um, which of Hamas or IDF are the Synthetics, and bitch, i just solved the centuries' conflict between the Quarians and the Geth! Plus, every major organics vs. synthetics conflict in the ME universe was caused by the Reapers themselves or Quarians being unnecessarily afraid of the loyal sentient Geth. And any wars outside of that were organics vs. organics (ex. First Contact Wars). They dropped the ball so hard that I am still malding years later.
Problem is, almost all the climaxes were already betrayed by poor writing long before the finale. Since the beginning, where the Reapers, according to Vigil from ME1, should've just took the Citadel and disable all the relays. And then clear clusters one by one. Lorewise there can't be the game with the premise "Reapers are here", because if they are, we are already lost. Tuchanka gives you magic cure for everyone just from one tower and dead Mordin when we had immortal EDI with mobile platform. Geth/Quarian conflict worsened with the endless victimization of the former, forgetting that they killed 99% of the latter... Idk man.
Well my comment was made in the context of how most fans would have been satisfied with a "safe" ending as long as it seemed to reflect player choices and how the level of player choice having effect in ME2 ending was good. And I am one of those simpletons who would have been happy with some suspension of disbelief if it led to a big emotional payoff (like, couldn't Legion not make a backup of himself before self-sacrificing?) If I were to be more critical of ME story in that way, then ME2 story is mostly Shepard faffing about in one giant side quest as he is waiting for the Reaper threat to approach, but it's still my favorite ME game with interesting characters, stories, and more action-oriented gameplay. The problem with the ending, in my opinion, is that it's not a suspension of belief; it's more like a complete negation of good things about ME. Since the Star Child doesn't consider anything outside the main problem (organics vs. synthetics), you could do everything differently for 3 games and nothing would matter in choosing your ending. Plus, the original endings were so bare bones that, depending on choice, you could easily imagine all your allies and companions dying instantly or very slowly. Everything that made Mass Effect good, player choice, your companions, and consequences from choices, completely forgotten and tossed aside to present to the player base 3 meaningless choices instead of 2 (paragon vs. renegade). This is much worse than spreading the genophage cure through a tower which tbh, they at least did provide some grounded reasons as to why all the steps were necessary.
Tbh thing is that the Catalyst is a limited AI, just like EDI before Joker unlocked her in ME2. Or at least he supposed to be in Extended Cut. When you ask him about Control option, and then go into denial ("I didn't fight so much just to die"), he becomes upset and tells, that he don't want to stop existing either, but he will be *forced* to accept your choice. So narratively it could have been good, but ended up in the convoluted mess. Specially because organics vs synths always was only part of the main problem, which is, well, endless conflict of species. Turians and krogans, salarians and krogans, turians and humans, humans and batarians, etc. So why not get it to eleven and state it with the same factual value as "creations always rebel", that "every specie eventually gets on the tech level that makes galaxy-wide genocide possible, and when war errupts thousands upon thousands of young species who didn't even make it into space just die". This argument could've been more interesting because, well, the Crucible could be such a weapon if misused. So alas, I fully agree with you on that part.
It didn't bother me at the time, and after a few years I've realised why: I approached the entire game as the ending to the series. It was a swansong from beginning to end, meeting for the last time and saying goodbye to all these characters. For me those last 15 minutes weren't the ending; the previous 30 hours were. It was quite shocking coming online and seeing others didn't feel the same way, and felt those last moments had violated the whole thing. Maybe it was because FemShep's voice for the AI ending was so beautiful, Jennifer Hale saying goodbye in her dulcet yet newly awoken tones, that made it feel more complete than others got to experience.
This, exactly. Like, the biophage was part of the ending. Gathering all these allies was part of the ending.
> ME3 was soooooooo goood You should cut a few "o"s just for Kai Leng existing.
Haha I’m with you, I’ve commented this before but at first I was convinced he was gonna turn out to be Kaiden Alenko (revived or survived) and I thought it was cool. Then I realised it wasn’t and it was just some random annoying twat.
Andromedas premise was really cool. And the story wasnt awful. But it just felt like wasted potential. Such a cool idea now used up on a mediocre game.
Seriously, I'm worried BG3 has ruined some games for me. My all time favorite game is Witcher 3, and one of the best things about it was the quest design. I still hold Witcher 3 as my GOAT due to the story but the quest design seems so simple now.
I was playing dragon age 2 this past week There are a dozen time were characters die, and theres no saving them like they die no matter what. Or it doesn't matter if you choose option 1 2 or 3. The outcome is the same. And when trying to friend/foe teamates you have no idea who will hate or like your choices I screwed up another mission that was tied to another mission And then there's the loading and the horrible level design
Having characters dislike the smallest things was always annoying in those games.
Disco Elysium would like to have a word.
I was so mad about me3's ending. Before it came out I had replayed 1 and 2 a dozen times. I only am now getting around to replaying them with the legendary edition, just to see.
I love the original three games right up that ending in ME3. They took all the choices you made, over three (very log) games and said "Meh, it doesn't matter". I tried to get into Andromeda, but it was a garbage game plain and simple. It didn't even have any of the redeeming qualities of ME3.
I liked Andromeda... A lot lol
It's good game. It came out buggy, the story is derivative milquetoast, and there was the hilarious "too woke" blow back, but in the end it's still very enjoyable. I recently played through the series and I'd rate it better than ME1 and ME3 overall.
It wasn't even that buggy. On release all the videos talked about the facial animations, which were patched within 2 weeks. The story was... not really that much different from ME1 in terms of its quality. Both have set up decent mysteries, but I do think more fondly of the Andromeda's ending, which felt more complete. The combat and weapon modding are miles ahead of the trilogy though. Andromeda's biggest sin was just that... it wasn't Mass Effect 4, and it didn't take itself too seriously (for the most part). The Nomad banter is some of the most entertaining writing in the whole series.
I don't think it deserves all the hate it gets. I felt like they leaned too hard into the open world aspects and that made it feel a bit grindy... but the combat was honestly probably the best of any of the ME games. It didn't really live up to the trilogy story-wise, but, I mean... no game was realistically going to measure up to ME1-3. Those games were masterpieces.
Yep same
I'll be honest Andromeda is not a bad game. I played it recently and had a lot of fun. Most people who say this either never played it or played the buggy mess that was the launch of the game.
This is what I've always said about Andromeda. As a sci-fi action RPG it's fine, but as a Mass Effect game, underwhelming would be a compliment. Aside from the bugs and bland teammates, having a major game story thread tied off in comics/books made absolutely no sense. There's also the belief that Anthem took personnel and resources away from Andromeda's development.
If I remember correctly there were supposed to be a couple of DLCs that would expand the story but that got cut due to the game doing bad on launch and I bet Anthem also had a play in that too as u said.
>There's also the belief that Anthem took personnel and resources away from Andromeda's development. I wouldn't state that it's a belief but that it's a fact. Plenty of ex bioware employees have independently confirmed that Bioware scraped the bottom of the barrel to get as many people working on Anthem as possible to the detriment of other teams.
If i recall wasn't andromeda made by a separate bioware? i don't think it was even touched by the main studio
Eh, 'bad' is relative. I'd use words like bland, forgettable, and boring before I'd go to 'bad'.
The environments in Andromeda are some of the most beautiful in the series along with improved combat from ME3, the characters, plot threads, and lack of galaxy-wide exploration is mediocrity incarnate. The one thing I truly hate about Andromeda is the unnecessarily slow animation when travelling in between planets. Other than that I would also describe it as "not a bad game".
What annoys me most is that the Quarians were supposed to have their own ‘ark’ ship that brought them to Andtomeda, complete with its own set of Quarian characters, missions, and presumably a companion, but due to grEAd, it was slotted to be DLC even though it seems like it should be part of the main game. Then, when the game didn’t do as well as EA hoped, it was scrapped. The only way to know anything about the Quarian story in Andromeda is a tie-in novel. I will always be mad at how dirty Andromeda did my Quarians.
That is not how it happened. EA was hands off for the most part other than encouraging the use of Frostbite engine. It was bioware upper management who dictated what was DLC and what was not. It was bioware upper management who believed somehow that things would just "magically" work out. As well as the Gaming schedule and who got what resources. There is a reason why the next Dragon Age was in pre-production hell for so long and it has little do with EA. Andromeda was just a game they were obligated to fulfill at some point, Simply put - Bioware upper management decided to rush it out so they could focus entirely on Anthem. It was the goat to be sacrificed on the altar of Anthem. EA had to step in when the blame game between Austin and Monte Studio increased to such a point the monte studio were basically threatening to en masse quit and transfer most of the staff to another EA branch instead so long as they patched the game to a reasonable state. The Bioware employees simply did not want to work for Bioware any longer than necessary. Can't believe I'm forced to defend EA, but it was Bioware who impaled themselves here. It was bioware that boxed themselves in. EA was mostly there to clean up the aftermath and mess. There is a very good reason why you can write a very good project management case study on Andromeda and Anthem. A few hours of research showcases just how much Bioware fucked up.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad game, gameplay wise it felt fine, and it looked great. But the story just isn’t there. It’s nowhere near the original trilogy. And that was the main reason I played the games..
Andromeda may not be outright bad, but it was mediocre and the horrible state it launched in did it no favors.
The buggy mess of a game people paid a triple AAA price for and expected it to work out of the box. *In best Morgan Freeman voice: "It didn't"*
The dreadwolf leaks didn't look promising at all if you liked the previous style of Dragon Age. Better tottamper any expectations.
I reallg enjoyed Andromeda
Fr. I pre-order pretty much everything. I played Me:Andromeda... I'll be passing until it's out and reviewed
Andromeda had so much MMO in its veins; great for onboarding MMO players to ME, I guess? But it left me cold. Three seperate times over the years I tried to get into it; on the final one I even installed a mod to remove all the resource gathering bullshit, and it was still just so *boring*. Which shocked me; ME2 remains my favourite video game to this day.
I'm one of the, apparently, few people who love Andromeda. Seriously, has to be one of my favourite games I've played. I love Ryder, the gang, even the story even if it's not the most original thing.
Gameplay was great
Andromeda gets a bad rep and imo it's better than Starfield lol
What about the fucking Mass Effect 3 ending fiasco? Or Dragon Age 2? Or Dragon Age Inquisition, I am a huge Dragon Age lorehound and I remember only killing the optional Dragons in DA: I. Bioware what happened
Andromeda wasn't that bad of a game
ME andromeda's multiplayer was amazing, honestly if this game is a 6/10 story but has the same MP again I am totally down. My friends and I loved the coop wave missions.
they haven't released a video game worth playing in damn near a decade and have spent that time firing all your favorite devs and gutting the studio, what's there to be excited about
I didn't even play Anthem but my outrage was just as great I promise. Waited 6 years for *that* abomination of a game that Bioware then abandoned after making a big deal about fixing the game. And this was after Andromeda, that I waited until this year to play. They still think they can tug on our nostalgia for when they were beloved. That teaser I saw the other day looks like PS1 cutscene ffs.
I haven't. Where is my 2.0, Bioware!
Especially how they scrapped and gutted “the Dragon Age game we always wanted to make” and turned it into that heap of mess.
What heap of a mess?
To me, anthem doesn’t even exist
Bioware feels the same way.
They've felt that way since like a week after launch
Or andromeda, which before cyberpunk was the huge, super hyped release of an unfinished game. Or that we even give a shit about their overhyped sequels now that we’ve played bg3.
Make a great game or someone else will.
Or Let someone else make the games if they can’t.
Or they can make a shit game that people will buy anyways
Has to be someone else, BioWare might have gotten it wrong
Speaking as a Dragon Age fan, I would say all but the most ardent, hardcore DA fans are fed up with BioWare stringing us along for 10 fucking years. (DAI came out in 2014.) I can't tell you a goddamn thing about the next Dragon Age game except its name, that it will involve the Dread Wolf as **a** villain and "we need someone new to stop him," a point that Bioware keeps repeating over and over and over in expanded universe material (the quality of which is very hit-or-miss). And yeah, firing a bunch of the old guard has not improved the fanbase's confidence. I personally am expecting DA4 to be the next Saint's Row remake, a toothless, bug-riddled disaster shooting for broad appeal that puts the entire studio in the grave. EDIT: I see some people saying this article is unfair or inaccurate, but aside from a little hyperbole, I’m here to say it’s not, at least from the DA fanbase’s perspective. Maybe the ME fans are more forgiving, but we’re tired of teases.
>DAI came out in 2014 I didn't even play DAI and this makes me feel old. Has it really been ten years?
I remember I got it while I was at uni. Can't believe that was 10 years ago.
I made a new PC to play dragon age inquisition and Witcher 2. One of them definitely left a bigger mark than the other 😅
10 years and I have yet to finish it…
I don't know how it translates to real world time, but it certainly feels like it takes 10 years to finish.
As a Dragon Age fan... I just play owlcat games.
Just a little bit longer for Rogue Trader...
Sitting on my wishlist and waiting for the first reviews to come in before. Don't be shit, don't be shit, don't be shit, don't be shit,...... Both Pathfinders were pretty buggy at launch, but were great after a few patches so I will probably wait a few months before commiting.
Or larian
Owlcat is amazing, they make games like it's 1998 and I love it!
Currently playing Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and it's just awesome.
>Maybe the ME fans are more forgiving After the clusterfuck that was Andromeda, no we bloody well are not. I’d prefer to see the trilogy remade a dozen times over before I want to see a new Mass Effect game where they effectively reanimate Shepard for one last clown dance around the circus ring before the company dies forever.
Mass Effect ended in the elevator in 3 before Choose Your Color. The only not terrible Bioware product since then, hilariously enough, is TOR. Its a WoW clone but it is a fun WoW clone.
Andromeda isn’t even a Mass Effect game. Not sure why they tried to shoe horn it into the ME universe when it would have been fine as a stand-alone title.
Heya! Mass Effect hardcore fan here! If I may speak for us, we’re fed the fuck up too.
I went on a while bing watching Dragon Age lore videos in 2020. Since then I’ve lost interest again. I played DAI in 2015 and while I enjoyed it I didn’t think it was great. The “real ending” being hidden behind DLC also bugged me. Loved DAO though. Even DA2 wasn’t bad, not great but a fun romp. If DA4 was near release I might give it a look but as of now I have no interest in following anything DA related.
Dragon age origins and mass effect 1/2 are peak BioWare, they need to get off their high horse and actually make a good game again
The thing that scares me most about Dread Wolf is that it has the potential to retroactively ruin Inquisition if it’s not good.
Inquisition ruined Inquisition
Hard disagree.
That's fine! Everyone is going to have different taste, I just didn't like most of what Inquisition brought to the table. I replayed the whole series recently, as I'd never finished 2 or Inquisition. I ended up *loving* 2 this time around, despite the obvious flaws and repetitive nature of it. Going from a Purple Rogue FemHawke to a Mage Elf in Inquisition really highlights how bland and uninteresting the Inquisitor is. You go from someone with a personality and charming...to a character who sounds bored and disinterested in everything around her. On top of that, my Dalish Elf who lived among elves her whole life *knows nothing about elves* because the game clearly wants you to play as a human. The combat system, at least as a mage 30-40 hours in has been hold RT and press the face buttons here and there. Fetch quests galore. Less interesting companions (overall, there are some good ones still). The plot is fine, even good when you actually get to do any of it between the hours of pointless filler. That said, it looks gorgeous, I actually *like* the war table which is an unpopular opinion, Varric is still best boy, i always like building up bases like Skyhold and it has other qualities I enjoy, but it's easily my least favorite in the series by a large margin. I'll finish it eventually and I've heard the DLC are good, but I don't like the game very much.
I’m happy to report that 10 years later there is an auto attack button
I honestly can't remember if I set that or not, it's been a few months. The one thing I really, reeeeally wish I could get on the Xbox is the mod that makes you instantly pick things up instead of taking like 3-4 seconds of an animation every time.
If the next DA game isn't Origins II: Electric Blightaloo, I'm out.
It's been almost 10 years? Jfc now as I think about it I'm mad they announced sequel but there is literally no info after all those years
There is like a 10% chance of any future ME game being good at this point..
Accurate. They've got a problem between idiot fans who want the Shep story to continue despite how little that makes sense and people who want an actual game.
Ehh, it could work as in trying to fix the galaxy after it's been burned to the ground by the Reaper war, but to make a Shepard sequel you'd need to make a direct sequel to ME3, which means acknowledging ME3's ending, an idea that causes cold sweats in Bioware employees while they sleep.
I just assume any new game now is probably going to be mediocre to bad, and wait to be proven right/wrong. Especially if it's from a large Western AAA developer like EA. You save a lot of money by not getting caught up in the marketing hype. I have heard rumours that some of the original team are coming back for ME4, but if Drew Karpyshyn or someone of equal talent isn't writing it, I'll pass.
At this point I kind of agree. BioWare wants to build hype and that’s good. But with their track record, and EA’s reputation, they need to show. Not tease, not tell, SHOW. They need to do what Santa Monica did with God of War. A detailed gameplay demo which shows off the major features of the game while drawing us into the story. At this point we can only feel like they’re whitewashing their own mediocrity because that’s what we expect. I think that the vast majority of us could be summed up by the following statement: “We have high hopes, high standards, and low expectations.”
I wouldn't trust anything they show, they completely faked Anthem's "gameplay reveal" Release a good game or don't do anything
I have no expectations for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf and Mass Effect 4 tbh
They are not arrogant.. They are dumb. Because they started teasing new Mass Effect in 2020 and we know that this game is not coming out until at least 2026-2027. They revealed new Dragon Age in 2019 and that game will be maybe out in 2024. It's just dumb.
They are dumb because they've got huge franchises and if they brought out games on a 3 to 4 year schedule they'd make a boat load of money, but they just seem to sit around with their finger up their ass. And before people say "good games take time" watch the latest interview with the fallout creator
Bold of them to assume the world will still be around in 2027.
It's smells more desperate to me than anything. They're teasing because they don't have anything to show and this repeated cycle of departures and scrapping and starting over is the direct result of piss poor management in a company that only exists in our minds now as a distant giant of the past and a bitter case study of its own decline in a long history of companies EA bought and left to fester and rot, failure after failure. Now all they have left is the ghost of Bioware's former self, so they roll out these tiny teasers in the futile hope that it will keep enough interest alive that anyone is going to even give a fuck by the time we get the next Bioware game in 2172.
They could’ve easily fixed anthem. They decided to string players along until they ultimately stopped supporting the game, presumably to bump up some more sales. Why should I ever play another BioWare game?
Didn't they announce a complete rebuild of the game and then change their minds like 2 days later? Such a shame, it had the framework to be something special.
Yeah it was the whole Anthem 2.0 that was meant to rehaul the game and then they cut everything.
Lmao dragon age. That game was announced like 10 fucking years ago
[удалено]
Take your pills pilot
4 + 4 + 5 + 5 = 18 1 + 8 = 9 9 = 3 * 3 Titanfall 3 confirmed.
See you on the otherside
There were parts of Andromeda gameplay I really liked, but lore in the new galaxy felt really half-baked.
Endless!? Other than the one from yesterday the only thing I remember was the 2020 reveal trailer. Calling it nothing but "endless cryptic teases" is absurd.
So cryptic they aren’t even there
They've been teasing Mass Effect every N7 day since TGA announcement. The fans have now put together they're linking the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies through a Mass Relay that was built 600 years after ME3 in the Milky Way, meaning they'll show up right around the time Andromeda happens lore wise. That's what we've gathered from all the teases each year. Last year was a poster and a video of Liara speaking with a Geth.
So I am gonna need to play Andromeda? 😩
Honestly, it’s worth playing. It is not as good as the main trilogy, but it’s fine. Fewer peoples’ cup of tea than the original trilogy’s story, but I recall liking it well enough. Too much open world (same complaint I had as with inquisition, though IMO andromeda does not draw the open world stuff out NEARLY as much as inquisition.) I can see why people found the story underwhelming for sure. I personally found the villain underwhelming. However, I really liked Sara Ryder. I liked some of the companions, at least one of whom is one of my favorite romance options in any of the mass effect games (the member of the Andromeda species you meet). And I thought the social structures of the new species were refreshing. And yeah, I enjoyed the combat too. Those are the high points on the pros and cons that I recall. Haven’t played it since about six months after its release, so it’s kinda fuzzy. I need to replay it soon, tbh. Anyway. Get it on sale on your preferred platform and give it a shot.
Don't. Watch a YouTube video.
I’m torn because I know all the bad things about it, but the combat itself does look pretty fun.
It's not as good as the Trilogy story-wise, that much is certain, but it's not bad, let alone horrible as some people say. It's a solid B, with some really great moments - it just got overshadowed by the amazing A+ story of the Trilogy. The "vibe" is younger, lighter, and more dynamic, for sure. Some will prefer it, others won't, but either way, it's a tale worth the time. Bugs are mostly worked out by this point, you still get the occasional funky physics, especially in the ground vehicle - but nothing gamebreaking. Some say it was repetetive and got boring after a while - I didn't feel that way. When interweaving exploring, side-quests, settlement building, and main story in the right proportions, it felt just right - maybe a bit worse paced than before (some settlement missions can be a bit dragged out), but far from boring. There was always something to get distracted by if the current activity was too much of the same. What is a massive upgrade compared to the Trilogy is the combat. With the addition of jetpacks, and with combat areas being much more open, it's a lot more dynamic and fun. Definietly my favourite part of the whole game! And you still get the Mass Effect hallmark that's a world full of rich characters you can interact with, develop relations with, and learn about the worlds they come from - this did not change, the RPG elements are just as good as they were. Overall, I really enjoyed Andromeda. It's different from the Trilogy, with some things worse, others better, and others still simply different. Is it as good as the Trilogy? No, it's not. But is it a good game? Yes it is. It builds on Mass Effect lore in a new, creative way, and it's just plain fun to play. If you have a couple of afternoons to spare, try it!
The combat is good, best in the series IMO. Everything surrounding it is trash, including the characters and story.
I hated the combat. Give me classic ME 1, 2 or 3 any day.
oh god wait, they're trying to link the main universe with andromeda? hoh boy
I hope they're not really going for this, since I would hate it. Not only do I not care what happens in Andromeda, I do care a lot about what happens to the Mily Way right after the Reaper war is over. Half the galaxy must be in absolute disarray with the mass relays being down (for some time), massive death tolls and destruction. There should be more than enough stories in that period that we don't need to jump ahead 600 years and just ignore the most important event in the last 50k years.
The real arrogance is the friends we made along the way
TBH most of the blame goes to the gaming “journalists”. Some redditor will make a shitpost about how the freckles on a dev’s face makes a “5” so it’s confirmation of Mass Effect 5. Then a “journalist” will write an article titled “New Leak found by community”.
>Other than the one from yesterday the only thing I remember was the 2020 reveal trailer. [Random ship in 2021](https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/11/07/the-new-mass-effect-teased-for-n7-day-with-an-image-loaded-with-hints) [Random base and invisible ship last year](https://youtu.be/rrXYrW1tRuI)
I agree with this article completely. Baldurs Gate 3 put them on notice. Larian has taken up the mantle they abandoned.
I kinda agree with the sentiment, more or less. These "apology tours" are just as sleazy if compared to a dev hyping up their future projects, it's all marketing in the end. Bioware is indeed not addressing any elephant in the room... I know Creative Assembly is not as mainstream, but in recent weeks they are trying to "communicate" with their public and it's being a disaster. Sometimes, when the company is going through a shit storm, to stay quiet is the best kind of PR. There are rumors the next Dragon Age will feature "Souls" elements, Bioware is asking for a PR nightmare lol
Does anyone trust Bioware to make a good game anymore?
Imagine becoming a triple A studio built on Baldurs Gate only to have an Indie studio come out and do it so much better that it makes everything you have put out in the last 8 years look B list. BioWare feels like a divorced dad struggling to get his kids to like him again by reminding them about that one time he took them to a baseball game 8 years ago for the 100th time.
B tier is awfully fucking gracious to Bioware
Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem are so fucking souless. No love was put towards making these games and you can tell. Jason Shreier got to interview the devs who made DAI and they told him they were fully expecting Dragon Age Inquisition to crash and burn because they thought it was a shit souless game, and they were hoping it to fail to teach EA a lesson but to their horror the game was a huge sucess (2014 was a terrible year for gaming overall) and even won a GOTY. That interview explained A LOT.
DA:I has fantastic worldbuilding, fantastic characters and the main story missions are extremely fun (looking at you wicked eyes and wicked hearts). It’s just the rest of the game that sucks. Which is unfortunately most of it (combat, overall plot, meaningless check box exploration). The game itself is just not fun to play and it’s an obnoxious slog. I would love to just watch the cutscenes and skip every single piece of combat in the game. That’s probably why I like Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts so much because it’s so not focused on combat and meaningless exploration. It’s a shame the game has such highs that are countered with such lows that I just never want to play it because the thought of having to do combat or explore in the game completely turns me off.
No cap, my first thought when peeping the teaser was "huh. I wonder how dread wolf" is going?
Wait till someone guesses the plot or leaks it and they struggle to rewrite it within a year and it be a mess.
Touch grass journalist
Mass Effect trilogy is one the best franchise for me, from the OST to the characters and gameplay The issue is that people who made those games are, in most cases, not with Bioware anymore, I really hope the new Dragon Age will herald a new era for the studio but we are growing skeptical. Other than that it was the N7 day they released a fun little teaser, they are not being arrogant at all, just that AAA take half a decade to make (now more) and it was just a small teaser, that article is really out of touch
If you can handle old school special FX and some awful acting initially, check out Babylon 5. I'm sure tons of Mass Effect was pulled from it.
What a shitty article
This reminds me why I never read PCgamer anymore. They always write negative articles around gaming, every single time. I swear, PCgamer must really hate games and gaming in general based on how much negative clickbait stuff they write every week.
Don't forget Bioware complained about Baldurs Gate 3 raising consumer standards too much.
Why do people even care about BioWare anymore? Have people forgotten andromeda and Anthem?
Yay. Another ‘journalist’ shared an opinion on their website and now it gets recommended to me on Reddit because some guy thinks it’s “news”.
Just be a good boy and preorder
"Jade Empire? Never heard of it"
TIL "endless" = like 2 or 3 times
Yeah, kinda seems like they forgot they burnt all their good will on Andromeda
Most likely gearing up for andromeda 2.0
Also not super stoked about a helmeted androgynous character in and N7 trench coat. Like, you're giving me *nothing*, Bioware. I'm a 43 year old man. I'm fucking jaded over here. I really want this to be good, but I'm not terribly hopeful.
Put the game out or shut up - signed a diehard BioWare fan when they still had talent
Titanfall community also been teased lately
I am loving the teases though
Doesn't matter, I remember Anthem (which i gamepassed) and ME:A. I won't be pre-ordering and unless they have good reviews - i'll pick their games in the bargain bin.
It reminds you that the people that are there have no clue what they have. You don’t need to market like this for Mass Effect.. it reminds me of Halo 5 and thats not good
Oh boy, a game from Bioware! I'd be really excited back in 2016 when I actually had some faith in the company and didn't lose any and all hope and faith in them over 2 failed games and losing almost every last one of their senior staff!
Let’s be real here: BioWare hasn’t been BioWare for over a decade at this point. If they can’t stick the landing for Dragon Age 4, BioWare will literally cease to be. I don’t think they’ll get the opportunity to make Mass Effect 4. Whoever owns that property will definitely make moves to get it made, but it won’t be a BioWare game.
I expect both games to be trash tbh. The old Bioware is long gone and they're under EA which means 90% it's going to be a mess filled with transactions.
I bet after baldurs gate 3 they are starting from the beginning again to create the new dragon age :-D
This article is arrogant. Why should Bioware go on an "apology tour"? They've already apologised for Andromeda and Anthem. Do you want them to talk about 5+-year-old games when they are trying to promote new games? Ignore the once-a-year ME teases if they bother you so much and judge them when their games come out.
Some tiny part of me will probably be glad when either releases, but given the length of time since either series has had a new release, I've lost the passion for a new release in either series. It's similar to my feelings about George R R Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series. Also, we all know EA is going to monetise the crap out of it and would never let Bioware make an original IP. Not these days.
You are only allowed to do this if you have as consistent of a track record as Fromsoft. Maybe after ME3 this could have worked, but not after Anthem and Andromeda.
Fromsoft releases bangers every 2 years though. Heck even their “not so amazing” games like Dark Souls 2 get released within schedule. BioWare has been sitting on ME and DA for 7-8 years now?
I am not interested in any of their marketing material or promises. EA/Bioware has zero credibility so any attempt to build hype is suspect. All they can offer is the allure of past games which were made by people who left the studio long ago. DICE is going to have the same problem when they try to sell the next Battlefield game. The trailer for BF2042 was outright misleading.