[Megathread] Mass Effect Andromeda

[Simulacrum]

Well, it makes sense to ignore the ending, given how horrifyingly retarded it was, but what they ended up going with doesn't make much sense either. They just made it trivially easy for just about anyone to travel between galaxies without the reapers being able to do anything about it, which means that... the milky way galaxy should be full of aliens traveling to it form other galaxies, including tons of warpgates built by said explorers as they arrive. The rest of the universe should also be filled with milky way species from older cycles who escaped or just left of their own to explore for reasons unrelated to the endless reaper purges. Never mind all the other stuff that adding this logically demands of the setting.

Can't say I'm surprised that none of it makes any sense, though. They really painted themselves into a corner with how stupid the final game was, so if they wanted another mass effect-like game set in the same setting then they'd have no choice but to do something that made no sense. Well, or they could just make the 'kill the reapers' the canon ending... but why take the easy way out when you can take the stupid way out instead? Although, even that leaves open all these other massive problems of logic that they've not in any way addressed... but then I guess most sci-fi tends to stop making sense really fast when you go beyond the limited scope of the original story.

I'm cautiously optimistic, though. Still liked the games; they were very competently put together outside of all the stupid shit they added to the third one. Hopefully Andromeda will be more like 1&2. Ideally 2, since I thought that was the best one. Man, they even shit on TIM. That story had so much potential and it just devolved into the most boring cliche... such an annoying ending to the trilogy.

[May90]

I can totally agree with that... romances in DAI were *horrible*, sadly - all of them.
ME romances actually had some impact to them and while the flirt and lines are cringeworthy, the game didn't forget about them in an instant.

Muh Tali *snuggles*.

Shiiit not only that, the characters themselves had so much more impact than in more recent Bioware games :/.
RIP my magnificent Salarian buddy.

"I am the very model of a scientist salarian, I've studied species turian, asari, and batarian.
I'm quite good at genetics (as a subset of biology) because I am an expert (which I know is a tautology).
My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian, I am the very model of a scientist salarian."

I think it is mainly because of the setup: in Mass Effect games, you are the same character and you interact with mostly the same LI throughout all 3 games (assuming you have a romance with someone from the first game). Many other characters also carried throughout the series. As a result, Shepard has managed to build deep complex relationships with many characters, so they were much more impactful. While in DAI all romance interests are completely fresh, not present in the previous games at all, or as mostly irrelevant side characters - plus the protagonist is new as well.

[Nazrark]

It's why Varric is a great companion. He's had a previous game of development and still is a wise-cracking Dwarf. That statements seems repetitive. BioWare has to know that keep the memorable companions around and you can shuffle new people in and out. Garrus and Tali were mainstays but everyone else showed up at some point showing they were still around in the universe.

[May90]

It's why Varric is a great companion. He's had a previous game of development and still is a wise-cracking Dwarf. That statements seems repetitive. BioWare has to know that keep the memorable companions around and you can shuffle new people in and out. Garrus and Tali were mainstays but everyone else showed up at some point showing they were still around in the universe.

I absolutely adored Varric - but, sadly, other core characters from previous games (especially from DAO) weren't present, or weren't romanceable. Leliana definitely should have been romanceable... Hawke would make for a great romance option, too.

[Cosmic Janitor]

I think it is mainly because of the setup: in Mass Effect games, you are the same character and you interact with mostly the same LI throughout all 3 games (assuming you have a romance with someone from the first game). Many other characters also carried throughout the series. As a result, Shepard has managed to build deep complex relationships with many characters, so they were much more impactful. While in DAI all romance interests are completely fresh, not present in the previous games at all, or as mostly irrelevant side characters - plus the protagonist is new as well.

To be honest, I actually liked the romance options in DA2 (at least Merrill and Isabella), or I thought at least they were better than DA:Is. The gay and female options weren't as bad either. Just the male ones were kind of awful. You can make good options without having established characters, after all most people get wet for the options in the first part of the series (both DA and ME). I'm more inclined to believe they have a hard time to actually write new characters after the first title without retreading too much in the paths of the existing ones. In the end it's really hit and miss in that department.

[Nazrark]

I would say it's harder to write characters in DA universe than it is in MEs. In DA there isn't much difference in what's going on aside from the Imperium and Qun. Of which neither is explored in depth. In ME every place you visit is fundamentally different. The Citadel is clean but is a very shady place. Omega is portrayed as dirty and downtrodden yet is a tight run facility because of Aria. Feros is very much like a frontier planet. Noveria is a corporate haven. Everywhere you went felt lived in by very different groups of people.

It's entirely the setting of the games that hampers or boosts the companions. It's just easier to make more compelling characters in a Sci Fi setting.

[Deleted]

I thought Reapers lie dormant at the edges of the galaxies and wake up to harvest every 10,000 years, or is it mentioned in the lore they are only localized to the Milky Way?

But I think they aren't going to be the main baddies in ME:A, they are kinda overused at this point.

Since you're asking I'm going to assume you don't mind getting spoiled a bit on one of the ME:3 DLC's:

The reapers were created by a race indigenous to the milky way, so while they did go to the edges of the galaxy to wait for 50k years between harvests, their programming likely only made them care about this one galaxy. The only reason the reapers might care about other galaxies is if the leviathans had an empire spanning multiple galaxies, which seems unlikely.

While some of the above is speculation (except for the part about reapers being created by the leviathans), it seems the most likely scenario.

More info on the leviathans: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Leviathan

[Cosmic Janitor]

Since you're asking I'm going to assume you don't mind getting spoiled a bit on one of the ME:3 DLC's:

I keep forgetting that
the game actually had DLC after the very clear cut ending :P.

[Yriel]

It is pretty common in fiction to use recognizable settings to tell a completely new story; it makes it much easier for players/readers/watchers to get into what's happening. How many Forgotten Realms stories there are out there, for example... I think they made it clear that they wanted the new Mass Effect series to be a truly new series, not just continuation of the previous games, so of course it is not that same Mass Effect we know - by its very design.

Forgotton Realms stories all play in the Forgotten Realms. You have the same races, kingdoms, gods and rules. Sure, one story may happen in an area where no drow live or something but everything else still applies.

Andromeda is so far away from their established setting that (aside from maybe the ships crew) there will be no connection to it.
I find it mind boggeling that they established such a cool setting and then abandon it completely.

[Elim Garak]

In Andromeda you have (confirmed) krogan, asari, salarians, humans, N7, Mass Effect technology, Mako, Biotics, Omni-tool.

Looks like the same universe to me, emphasis on universe, not a mere galaxy.

[pateuvasiliu]

I thought Reapers lie dormant at the edges of the galaxies and wake up to harvest every 10,000 years, or is it mentioned in the lore they are only localized to the Milky Way?

But I think they aren't going to be the main baddies in ME:A, they are kinda overused at this point.

Reapers sleep in dark space which is between the galaxies so I think they couls go to Andromeda.

Myquestion is if the mass relays were built my reapers how, in the thousands of years it must have taken them to cross the Milky Way, did the Leviathan not manage to hide to save their race. ME3 shows them pretty much extinct.

[Nerraw]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/06/...fect-andromeda

"We had a lot of different ideas when we started on early concepts for what we wanted to do with the next Mass Effect game," BioWare Creative Director Mac Walters told IGN. " I think, aside from the fact that we said the Mass Effect trilogy was a trilogy for Shepard’s story, which we have concluded, we were very careful to make sure that big choices like that [the Mass Effect 3 finale] wouldn’t impact your decisions.

He continued, "From that, you can probably infer the timing of when they [the Andromeda explorers] left, to a certain degree." Walters couldn't yet share the full details, but he did say the game will take place "hundreds of years" after Mass Effect 3.

[pateuvasiliu]

It could take 1 million years after ME3 and the ending would still be relevant.

Synthesis basically makes everyone immortal and green, Destroy means the Geth are gone.

[Elim Garak]

Well from various interviews since E3, the facts are lining up like this:
1. ME3 ending will not have any effect
2. It took them lots of time to travel to Andromeda
3. Game takes place hundreds of years after ME3

So it's all but officially confirmed that they left prior to ME3 ending or even beginning. This way the ME3 conclusion cannot affect the game story because they left before it concluded and thus it is unknown, and they cannot learn about it because they traveled for so long and so far away - thus any decisions made in ME trilogy will have no serious impact apart from references in CODEX and maybe dialog "What you think you are Shepard or something, Ryder? Shepard had quads worthy of a krogan!"

[zealo]

It could take 1 million years after ME3 and the ending would still be relevant.

Synthesis basically makes everyone immortal and green, Destroy means the Geth are gone.

That's what they're trying to avoid with going to another galaxy before the ending of ME3, storywise. Those beams spread in a circle radius via the relay network. You can probably assume it's effective reach is limited to the milky way.

[pateuvasiliu]

That's what they're trying to avoid with going to another galaxy before the ending of ME3, storywise. Those beams spread in a circle radius via the relay network. You can probably assume it's effective reach is limited to the milky way.

I'm aware, but if this is hundreds of years after ME3, the effects of Synthesis would still be there.

Unless the Andromeda team left before ME3's ending, case in which fair game.

But I doubt that will be the case. The only way to do this in my eyes is to send the Andromeda team during ME3 and have the game be set in the few years after ME3. Because if you sent the team in ME3 and this happens say 200 years after that you'd still have people from the Milky Way coming to Andromeda, right? And then you'd have the Ending problem again.

Also how did they get to Andromeda? Without Mass Relays you need years to travel around the Milky Way how in the world did they get to Andromeda without Relays?

[Deleted]

Unless it was all a dream.

[Kathandira]

I'm aware, but if this is hundreds of years after ME3, the effects of Synthesis would still be there.

Unless the Andromeda team left before ME3's ending, case in which fair game.

But I doubt that will be the case. The only way to do this in my eyes is to send the Andromeda team during ME3 and have the game be set in the few years after ME3. Because if you sent the team in ME3 and this happens say 200 years after that you'd still have people from the Milky Way coming to Andromeda, right? And then you'd have the Ending problem again.

Also how did they get to Andromeda? Without Mass Relays you need years to travel around the Milky Way how in the world did they get to Andromeda without Relays?

I'm hopeful that all will be answered in the prologue of the game.

[pateuvasiliu]

Unless it was all a dream.

INDOCTRINATION THEORY FUCKIN CONFIRMED GET HYPE

#Reaperbowl2016

[Deleted]

INDOCTRINATION THEORY FUCKIN CONFIRMED GET HYPE

#Reaperbowl2016

Wouldn't it just be the best if Andromeda opened by confirming it?

I can already hear the screams.