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The original Mass Effect trilogy was an important series in the history of gaming, helping showcase how player choice just in talking with characters could have a dramatic effect on the NPCs and the player. However it was rather binary, so in the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda, you won't get good and bad conversational options, more ‘shades of grey.'
That's how creative director at BioWare, Mac Walters described it in his chat with GamesRadar (via PCGN). The idea isn't to get rid of conversational options, but to make them less obvious as to which is the path of light and which one leads to a darker side.
Having characters talk like I imagine they would has been a really fun feature of more contemporary games
Perhaps drawing on the likes of Telltale's The Walking Dead, or Game of Thrones conversational titles, Mass Effect: Andromeda will be much more nuanced and instead of giving players clear choices which define them as characters and players, they will instead be given more options.
“I think now we’re moving away from that,” Walters said about the Paragon/Renegade system. “We’ve been looking for other ways to engage more of those shades of grey; less about it being obviously being right or wrong and more about giving people a sense of choice.”
“[Gamers are] looking for more of those shades of grey,” he said.
The most recent look we had of the upcoming Mass Effect title was a new trailer at E3, which showed humanity heading further afield than ever before, strange alien creatures and new highly-detailed companions to interact with. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2vgHOXeps0′]
Mass Effect: Andromeda is planned for release in March 2017.
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KitGuru Says: I like how this is shaping up. Though I must admit the only Mass Effect I finished was 2. I bailed out on one about three quarters in and never touched three. Should I go back and finish them all?
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How many shades of gray? I assume something a little over 49?
And to answer the question: one is legendary so play the hell out of it. And if you like RPGs, stay as far away from three as humanly possible. It is nothing more than a mediocre cover-based shooter with some story options. ME3 has a logic similar to that of Uncarted2/3: more enemies must mean more fun. Of course, unless you’re called Serious Sam (or you’re a hack & slash RPG), it does not.
still don’t get the hate ME3 gets, though i’d guess it’s latent hate from the ending. ME3 gameplay is essentially a better version of ME2. and yeah ME1 was more of an RPG but gameplay wise it was much simpler; and it was definitely a cover shooter on higher difficulties (just without the cover mechanics).
plus, ME1 world design was horrible (beyond the main mission worlds). every random planet looked the same with a color shift, and every base was the same layout.
Why should it be the ending? I don’t even remember its specifics (or any of it really). Something about sacrificing yourself? As I said, I was annoyed by the terrible cover-based gameplay and lack of RPG elements.
True, ME1 was also a cover-based shooter on high difficulties; I remember leaving the Mako because it was just a lot easier to pick off enemies with a sniper. But there was so much more to the game because of the freedom you had; there were also infinitely fewer enemies and combat was a fast-paced distraction instead of the main gameplay element.
And ME1 was brilliant for the time it was launched: nobody cared back then that worlds were all the same. ME2 choose a different path, and I was fine with that. It worked great again. But ME3 was just rehashing old ideas: mo enemies, mo problems.
by itself ME1 was great, but compared to its sequels the exploration aspect just felt horribly pointless and empty. it was fun bunny hopping up mountains with the mako though.
in many ways ME3 had more RPG elements then ME2. while character customization was about the same you had many more guns to choose from. that could vastly change how you played.
ME2 suffered from trilogy syndrome. because they couldn’t really do much with the reaper plot, and because nothing could really change between ME1 and ME3, they killed shepard off and had the galaxy stick their heads in the sand. in the grand scheme of things the collectors had no point, without them the plot from ME1 to ME3 would have been the same. they were just filler enemies for a game that wasn’t sure what to do with itself.
truthfully nothing in ME2 really made me feel for the game. i suppose the secret of the collectors, or the macabre way reapers are built, should have done it; but none of those points were really that impactful (or surprising). it had no moments like ME1 had, like the vermire mission where you learned something surprising and had a great loss.
ME3, in my opinion though, was full of them. the invasion of earth had the hairs standing up on the back of my neck. the whole of tuchanka’s questline was good and the ending left an impact (if you liked mordin at least). absolutely loved how the quarian/geth situation could play out, another impactful culmination. and of course the return to earth. really the only bad part plot wise was the final decision, and thats just because it felt like a cop-out from the writers.
Of course ME1 was less impressive compared to its sequels. It’s rare that a AAA series does not make massive improvements every step of the way. As I said, given the period of its arrival, that exploration was awesome. I still remember the feeling of getting dropped on a planet for the first time. I did not even notice then that it was empty, that came later when the standards for immersive gaming increased. And ME2 and ME3 could feel less empty, because they were almost as linear as any FPS. The levels were small and you just had to go from A to B.
And yeah, the story of ME2 did not do much to impact ME3. But except for a few quest lines, definitely including Mordin and the start on Earth, there was nothing to ME3 either. I don’t even remember the return to earth. In fact, there was absolutely nothing in ME3 – again, excerpt for Mordin – that managed to stick with me. The game is completely forgetful. I have a similar experience with 2 (which says a lot about the plot of 2 considering I played it through at least six or seven times), which had only the tiniest of plots, but definitely not with 1. I can remember almost every detail of ME1. The plot blew me away every single time.
But the conclusion probably should be that we differ in tastes 🙂 I used to have a colleague who thought KotOR was almost mediocre whereas KotOR 2 was phenomenal; I felt the almost the exact opposite. ME3 was well-received by press and gamers alike, but I just hated it from start to finish..
the truth is that ME1 and ME3 were just different games, only real connection was the plot. i liked ME1 for its story and RPG elements, and i liked ME3 for its story and combat (plus i enjoyed the multiplayer). but they’re not really comparable since they’re so different.
still think ME3 was superior to ME2 though, pretty much in every way. only thing i liked about ME2 was the new characters.
i liked ME1 and ME3 the most. ME2 was cool because of new Characters ( e.g. Legion) but the whole game was too casual for me, like 1/10 of the weapons of 1 and the skilltree was also too little. ME3 did that better.
Yes, yes you should go back and finish them.. well 2 and 3 anyway.. first one is a bit meh now.
Absolutely go back and play the entire series. It’s a major milestone in storytelling for gaming.
Try bleach.
I’m going to rape you Rebecca. I am going to rape you, then I’m going to cut off your head, put it on a spike, burn a swastika into it and fill your mouth with a purée of your loved one’s feces and the ashes of your uterus. Lastly, I will drag your remains through the streets so that the locals can mock you, throw garbage at you and spit on your dismembered body.
While I appreciate that spam like Rebecca’s comment is overwhelmingly irritating, your response to said spam is offensive, disturbing, and extreme.
Threatening strangers on the internet with rape and dismemberment, even in jest, is not an appropriate way to express your displeasure with their words. It’s a good way to end up on a Watch List.
Please save your quirky sense of humor for your close friends and relations. Comment boards online are not a good place for death threats, joking or not.
How “Victorian” of you.
Please save your misplaced sense of moral uprightness for your close friends and relations.
It’s basic human decency, something which no particular era of human culture monopolizes. Your commentary was atrocious, and I’ve said as much. Whether you actually take that on board is your own business. Washing my hands of it now.