Mass Effect Andromeda Will Have Witcher-Like Meaningful Side Quests

[Tsun Tzu]

Just...not making it knock-off korean mmo tier bullshit would suffice, guys.

No need to shoot for the moon here.

But I am enjoying how Bioware, the once darlings of the RPG genre, are now relegated to stealing stuff from a clearly superior dev.

...ok, equal parts enjoyment and depression.

[small]Condominas...hehe.[/small]

 

[Alma Mare]

Remember when the Witcher came out? Bioware was back then the uncontested kings of story in RPGs. Fast forward 10 years and how things have changed. Where are the guys who did Jade Empire?

 

[RebornKusabi]

Remember when the Witcher came out? Bioware was back then the uncontested kings of story in RPGs. Fast forward 10 years and how things have changed. Where are the guys who did Jade Empire?

They're gone. Those people work at other studios, are now indie developers or in the case of the old OLD guard, retired.

The Bioware everyone used to love? They're not there anymore. Now it's an EA machine. And I bought DA: I.

But let's be real- those days are over. Those days of meaningful gameplay and character development have given way to skinner-box grinding and checkbox spread-sheeting gameplay. And that's not a Mass Effect I want. Keep that shit to fantasy games- I want to explore the universe and sex any alien I want. Yes even the ones with no tentacles OR GENDER!

 

[Nimcha]

I rather hope not. I found that game tedious as hell.

 

[Nimcha]

Remember what EA and Bioware said about the end of Mass Effect 3? Remember how it wouldn't boil down to a simple choice of good, bad and neutral?

And it didn't.

 

[Metalrocks]

certainly good news. as long it is as it they say. i know i wont be getting it on day one and see what reviews have to say. but if they really do the witcher style of side quests, i will snatch it right away.

 

[Kingjackl]

Easier said than done, but I'm glad to hear they're acknowledging that. Dragon Age Inquisition was decent game, but it got really boring in the second half. More fleshed out quests would help to alleviate that.

 

[Amaror]

I dunno if W3 is really such a high bar, people seems to forget but 50%+ of W3 side quest were just finding a letter that said there was some sunken treasure or something and then just going to the yellow area and that was it. It did have a bunch of quest with little story, but those were also in ME2, they were called loyalty mission and ME3 also had plenty of side quest on the side, like griffon academy and such. The hunt quest in W3 were insanely repetitive and followed the same pattern over and over.

Numerically maybe. The point why so many people love Witcher 3's quests is that that wasn't what you were doing most of the time. Those repetitive quests you talk about take about 5 - 10 Minutes MAX to complete, some don't even take longer than 1 - 2 minutes. I was able to clean up nearly all of the question marks in the Witcher 3 by just doing them as I was on my way to my next bigger quest. They were less of a slew of boring content and more something to keep me interested while I was on the journey to other quests. What you DO spent most of your time doing in Witcher 3 was going through these fantastic quests with imaginative stories and interesting characters. That's why people love the Witcher 3 sidequests. Not because there wasn't any filler content in there, but because the filler content that was there was unintrusive and was heavily overshadowed by the fantastic non-filler content.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

As far as I'm concerned that's really good news. It's still to be awaited how well they'll pull it off though.

Honestly, from the trailer, the "scanning" thing the main character was doing reminded me instantly off Geralt's witcher sense, so I'm not surprised to hear them say that officially.

I do hope that it's more than just that though. The witcher senses itself were rather tedious in TW3, it's the characters around the quests that make them interesting.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

The thing I took away from this report is that *BioWare* are aspiring to have their game be like The Witcher 3. That is that BioWare are not creating something new but borrowing from others.

I already saw the "investigations" in the trailer, which is straight out of Batman/Witcher. It looks more and more like ME:A is a mish-mash of many things that work in other AAA games, most likely heavily focus-tested. Ubisoft sandbox/stronghold elements, Witcher investigations/sidequests, generic 3rd person shooter combat. *sigh*. I just want a space opera RPG

 

[Nimcha]

The thing I took away from this report is that *BioWare* are aspiring to have their game be like The Witcher 3. That is that BioWare are not creating something new but borrowing from others.

I already saw the "investigations" in the trailer, which is straight out of Batman/Witcher. It looks more and more like ME:A is a mish-mash of many things that work in other AAA games, most likely heavily focus-tested. Ubisoft sandbox/stronghold elements, Witcher investigations/sidequests, generic 3rd person shooter combat. *sigh*. I just want a space opera RPG

How is that surprising though? Every time BioWare tries something new people seem to hate it.

Can't blame them too much for just catering to the safe audience.

 

[fix-the-spade]

And it didn't.

Oh I'm sorry I forgot that in Bioware land moral choices are called Blue, Red and Green.

Silly me.

 

[Nimcha]

And it didn't.

Oh I'm sorry I forgot that in Bioware land moral choices are called Blue, Red and Green.

Silly me.

None of the final choices corresponded with good evil or neutral.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

When talking about CDPR vs. Bioware, remember that Bioware has been making great story-driven games for longer than CDPR has even existed. The Witcher is a high bar to aim for, but then again, what Bioware needed was to realize that their most recent games aren't nearly as good as their classics, like the original Mass Effect, DA: Origins, Balder's Gate, and so on.

Having someone beat them at their own game could serve as a wake-up call. Maybe they truly have learned a lesson from their previous games and their imitator's better attempts at great, story-driven games.

Or maybe EA will do their usual thing and muck it up. Inquisition played like a corporate checklist; maybe this game will be different. Hopefully it will be different.

We've only got a few weeks to wait and see.

 

[mysecondlife]

I say we really need to remind ourselves that its people who make games, not the name of the development team behind it.
(I can't be bothered to google and look into it but) if creative force behind Mass Effect 3 and the new game are different people, why not give them the chance?

I wish them luck nonetheless. I just finished Witcher3: Hearts of Stone 20 minutes ago and it reminds me how ambitious of a goal they're trying to reach here.

 

[Dalisclock]

Hey, I'm willing to play Witcher 3 IN SPACE!

Remember what EA and Bioware said about the end of Mass Effect 3? Remember how it wouldn't boil down to a simple choice of good, bad and neutral?

The Witcher 3 is a mighty lofty goal to aim for. I'll believe that Bioware can do it when I see them do it, not when a Bioware talking head name checks a particularly excellent game.

As I said, I'd love to see Bioware pull it off, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[ecoho]

not gonna lie little worried because while the witcher 3 was a good game the side quest were, to put it bluntly, stupid time wasting bullshit that was needed to beat the game. I like games that respect my time but tell a good story, I don't like games that have side quests that take 4 hours to do and are dam near mandatory to beat the game.

 

[Nimcha]

And it didn't.

Oh I'm sorry I forgot that in Bioware land moral choices are called Blue, Red and Green.

Silly me.

None of the final choices corresponded with good evil or neutral.

That's your argument? Semantics? If you're going to defend the game, atleast do so with an actual point. What, so instead of morality, it's different RGB values. Big whoop. Next you'll tell me the endings are each so incredibly different because of a few seconds of difference in cutscenes and the (DLC) epilogue jpegs have extra shit put on them in Photoshop. Oh, and Lance Henriksen has a few extra lines. Please.

Way to not tackle the core of the issue that was raised.

Semantics? Have you even played the game at all? The different choices have a huge impact on the universe. As do a lot of the choices you make in the game.