Mass Effect Andromeda : what could have been?

[LocoShep]

So who agrees/disagrees that Andromeda was a great game, the patches fixed most of the issues (not all obviously but most) . And while I do agree that they could of postponed the launch another 4-5 months to equal it out into the final product it was after the patches, I still stand firm that the negative reviews and comments towards it were over the top blown out of proportion! I would love to hear what you all think, do you agree that the game was unfairly attacked in the manner it was, or do you support the bad press it received? Share ur thoughts, and what do you make of the decision to not make any dlc? I spose at least we no now from bioware themselves that the game has no future (for now), so the question has been answered of its destiny. The only good news out of all this is that Hudson is back at bioware, and he's confirmed that mass effect will return at some point. But i think we all new that anyways, as you simply just do not end a series like mass effect. So what do you guys think they'll do next with the series?

[mcsupersport]

It was a good game, with very good potential to be great with a few tweaks and more patches.  Honestly, EA said they could delay launch up to 6 months without really bothering their financials, and SOMEONE decided that it wasn't needed and was ok to release the buggy product they did......

Issues were mostly overblown, but honestly, the bad facials and such were simply a byproduct of the game being unfinished, and you can see it in several areas.  Why they didn't delay the release and fix these very noticeable and easily lampooned issues is beyond me.  They could have STARTED the game and release patches from where they ENDED it instead....think about 6 more months of intensive patches from where the game stands now....THAT is what we could have had.

Honestly the decision to drop MEA befuddles me, why they wouldn't fix the issues, release the DLC make some money from it, and continue revenue for 6 more months to a year more is beyond me.  At least in Dragon Age 2, they released some DLC, fixed many of the complaints about the game in them and seemingly learned from their mistake...hopefully they do the same in ME. 

I think I am mostly sad about MEA now, because of how close we came to really getting a great product, one that could honestly keep ME at the forefront of SciFi gaming for years to come.

[LocoShep]

mcsupersport - Yeh I'd like to no who actually made the decision to drop it? And there reasoning, as you said they could of fixed the reputation by 6months to a years worth of patches and dlc to make fans happy. I mean that's what we've all been craving for ain't it.... DLC.... That proves there's a demand for more.

Why make another Sci fi game in anthem when you already have the best Sci fi franchise in mass effect, pull all ur resources to making sure it's the best possible mass effect experience possible then over a course of a couple years add dlc content to add to it.

Correct me if I'm wrong but - I now strongly believe that bioware and mass effect have to pull away from ea somehow. That's gonna be difficult as they own them, but it has to happen. I also believe that there could still be more to come from Andromeda, maybe they leave it alone for couple years or less, then do something with it? What you think of this?

I also agree with what you said regarding its development stage - that if they'd delayed the release for another 6months-1yr with all the patches they did and some more fine tuning then it would of turned out even greater than it was, maybe that's what they wanted but ea pushed for the release?

I do agree the facial issues were recognizable (especially with Addison) but everything else was just over blown, it spoiled its reputation to much. And with literally everyone jumping on the bandwagon it just crushed it unfairly. I still believe that alot of the hate came from peeps who only played it for 10hours then gave up, or even some that never actually played it (or jus watched YouTube Vids) and just wanted to throw some more hate it's way. Of course it's just my opinions but alot of you have agreed with this. The game is way better than the negative reviews it received, but some of the negativity was justified. But no game is perfect hey!!

[Agentbrown14]

Sorry, terrible game and not because of the animations. Characters, story and dialogue were appalling. That's what killed it for me. Managed forty hours before giving up as I just didn't care what happened to my crew, the Initiative, the Angara or even Ryder.

[Fr0st223]

@LocoShep

I definitely agree that it was a good game, which ended my hunger that I've been having for years after the OT.

Speaking for myself, I say f*** all the negative reviews. And again, yes there were serious bugs but not for me and honestly, which game doesn't have them? Well, I don't know any "perfect" game. I've encountered just minor problems so I can't complain about anything and I wouldn't even if it was the other case. For example, my experience with Witcher 3 in terms of game bugs wasn't really good. I couldn't continue with story because of broken quests and constant crashes so I waited several months until they finally fixed it and I was able to continue with main story at least and even now it's not completely polished and I still can't finish some quests. Despite all of this, I love that game and would never consider to waste my energy being angry for the rest of my life and demanding refunds... That's just how I see things, what has to happen just happens so next time everyone'll be more careful with preorders and such things or simply won't buy another BW game. On the other hand, I do understand most of the players who were not satisfied with it and it's current state because it's their right. When you pay for something you naturally expect it to be perfect. But we all know it's not that easy in game industry... 

Anyway, I had a really good time with Andromeda though there're few things I'd like to see changed next time (e.g. story with better antagonist and possibillity for some crew members to die as I think it was always natural part of ME, choices with bigger immediate impact, game mechanics tweaks etc....), however that's not as important as the fact that this game absolutely didn't deserve to be "abandoned" especially with some crucial story lines left unexplained (Quarian Ark, Benefactor, Ellen Ryder, potential Reaper threat). These could've been easily solved with dlcs but instead they chose to move on and leave it as it is.

Of course, there're dozens of possible reasons why this happened and we can only speculate and I think there's no point in that as we won't change it. The only thing we can do is keep BW / EA informed that this was not a good way how to deal with this situation and move on. I think Casey'll start with another ME project at some point and hopefully it'll be MEA sequel with save import option because I don't want another standalone game as that was never ME's style and because it's not Dragon Age and it'd be nice to see them finish what they started (especially Ryder's story). I also hope that Hudson won't leave BW again in early stages of another ME project they'll work on as that would probably damage next ME again.

In the end, I'm glad that BW at least gave us some support (patches) and didn't leave us completely with unfinished game right in the beginning and made the game more playable for everyone. Also, as I thought the books'll tell the rest of the story and that's ok with me. It's better than nothing so there's still something positive we can look foward to  

[LocoShep]

Fr0st223 - Yeh same here, when I played Witcher 3 I absolutely fell in love with it. But I did experience bugs that at certain points frustrated the hell outa me. But it didn't put me off it as thats just part of modern day gaming.. Played it twice and each playthrough was different with bugs, but still a great gaming experience.. I did get sum bugs with Andromeda but like I stated in other blogs, nothing that put me off playing and enjoying it. Obviously other players experienced different bugs, and yes progression effecting bugs that forced them to leave it for bit and play later. We all no there was many changes during the Making of it which obviously had some effects, but for me personally I still stand firm in the belief that they did a great job with it. I truly am gutted there's gonna be no dlc, but I'm glad we get to continue/finnish the story with the books wen they get released. And it's great to no that Hudson will be involved with the next mass effect game. I also agree with what u said about the next game hopefully not being a stand alone game! It really is not the mass effect way to do it.. Create great characters, story building, powerful allies and a strong main enemy over the course of multiple games. Thas the core power of this series. I truly hope we see more of Andromeda at some point down the line, it's unlikely but you never know. My opinion is they made the wrong call in announcing no dlc/future sequels to Andromeda and I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this.

But I'd also like to add that I would not be against a return to the milky way.... Yup.. With Shepard and the Normandy crew! I am proud to admit il never have enough of the Normandy crew. Attack me on that if you want, like I stated I want to hear everyone's views and opinions on this.
Maybe even the next game could be titled THE SEARCH FOR THE NORMANDY CREW.... Yeh I guess It does sound a bit cheesy but still, would make for an awesome game you have to admit?

Plus we have to admit as well about the multi-player and how great fun it is with all the powers they gave us to play with, which also includes the main game too... The amount of player creation there is is just incredible.

[DragonRageGT]

I'll repeat my reply from another thread. And for the record, I have over 600 hrs with the game (SP only) while ME3 I had around the same but mostly Multiplayer. I had a lot more fun in single player in MEA!

There are so many open ends in the main game that should be filled with some DLC's. If the game flunked, it was because it was rushed. By the time facial animation was fixed, the damage was done. It is still a great game and the fans deserved better. It is a stupid decision EA has made. Invest some of the profit, and there was plenty of it, and make the franchise something that will attract both old and new players again. It is dam better than Anthem will ever be. The Mass Effect Universe didn't deserve a poor decision like this. Stupid suits with short vision cannot foresee what greatness would become from a little investment? Fire these hacks and hire players instead. CDPR has players running the company and look how well they did with all their Witcher games! Frak people who hates video games and work in the game industry. They sh*t on us and we still pay them!

[Jephrox]

I would have to agree with Agentbrown14: I did not care much about the new characters, only a little bit with Ryder. And graphics and face animation aside, I could let that one slide because as some of you have mentioned, that could have been fixed with a simple patch -- but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of an open world game but I was open enough with the concept that I gave it a go. The ONLY thing I would love to see in MEA is that, since the story takes place 600 years later, they could at least showed the progress on what's going on in the Milky Way especially other planets like Earth, the Asari homeworld, Turian, etc. -- especially after the Reaper attacks if the Citadel has been rebuilt. Regardless of the ending you chose in ME3, there should be somewhat of a mention about that; and I understand if MEA is trying not to make it all about Commander Shepard, but at least the assurance for the gamers that the Milky Way is doing OK since then. With the advanced technology, you couldn't contact the people from Milky Way to see how those guys are doing? I think BioWare developers made a HUGE mistake not being able to do a DLC, or at least some sort of Mass Effect Genesis Comic Strip, since you can't transfer the decisions you made in ME3 to MEA (different console platforms) but you can choose them before the game starts; so based off the ending you chose on ME3, it will somehow affect MEA, it would be interesting to see if 600 years from now, if you chose "Control" that maybe the Reapers are controlled to help the Initiative find the lost arks of the Turians, Salarians, Quarians and Asari and become an ally in protecting them from the Scourge or the Kett. And if you chose "Synthesis" maybe you'll encounter a species who is an offspring from someone who has that new DNA and it was passed on through generations. Just saying. I'm more of a story-oriented gamer, the combat gameplay and graphics are fine - and like I said, the face animation and little glitches are fine because the patch could fix that, but I agree - there should have been some DLC's and I would have been fine as well with delaying the game before its release to perfect it; it would just make the wait worthwhile just so we have a game that won't end up being dropped. 

[AeromusPrime22]

The open world and RPG elements made this my favorite of the series, but in terms of story it was easily the weakest. EA soured on it way too quick and I agree there was so much potential for expansions and technical fixes it could have been a great game. Unfortunately, EA developed it poorly and led to its downfall. If anyone hasn't read the Kotaku article on its development I'd suggest you give it a look. Its a long read but very telling.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/kotaku.com/the-story-behind-mass-effect-andromedas-troubled-five-179588...