49 réponses à ce sujet

[S.W.]

We know ME:A is set in a completely different galaxy.

 

Firstly, it will almost definitely involve encounters with new kinds of alien species, on alien worlds, engaging with a completely fresh and new intergalactic political situation than in the Milky Way.

 

Secondly, I also don't think it's much of a stretch to say that the prominent plotline for the ME trilogy - the Reapers - will be completely absent here, only referenced to obliquely, in order to avoid having to write at least three separate plotlines which encompass all the ending choices of ME3, and likely we'll face a different kind of antagonist entirely, likely on a different scale.

 

Thirdly, whilst there's been some debate over whether characters will possibly make cameos or appear again in ME:A, it seems very unlikely that will be the case. If we reboot several thousands of years after the trilogy, which is the amount of time it'd take to get to Andromeda with "conventional" FTL travel, they'd likely be dead. If we instead travel via. some kind of magical wormhole, it'd likely happen during the events of ME3, and given that all prominent characters were working on the crucible, on earth, or are at Shepard's side during ME3, I highly doubt they'll be rushing off to Andromeda any time soon.

 

Fourthly, just judging from the shots of alien landscapes and the return of the Mako in the trailer, I reckon the gameplay will probably change too (although to be honest BioWare has a tendency of shaking this up every game anyway).

 

All good things, if you ask me (you didn't, but ah well).

 

It does lead to another question though. ME:A's setting, plot, characters, and gameplay are completely new, and differ from the trilogy. It will share a timeline, and we can safely presume that the Milky Way is developing in the direction you choose in your ME3 ending at the same time.

 

Asides from a shared timeline though, what makes it a Mass Effect game? Why not start up another sci-fi franchise completely? (yeah, I know the answer to this one - franchises = lotsa cash, but I'm thinking artistically). Will ME:A play around with similar themes, acting as a 'spiritual successor' more than a direct one? Will we see the development of species/governments we're already used to - humans, turians, salarians, quarians etc. - in a new setting? I imagine a tonne of things will be different, so I'm interested in what will actually be carried over from the trilogy.

 

Also! Should point out now - I'm not criticising ME:A for not being a tr00 ME game - hardly! I'm really glad BW are exploring different terrain. Just interested on other people's thoughts on this.

 

 

[felipejiraya]

I see ME:A like Star Trek did their TV series, each one is very different from each other but fundamentally it's the same franchise. It's not a reboot because the history and elements from past series are there but it's a clean state where the writers have the liberty to write without being constrained by past events.

[Cheviot]

The main thing that makes it a Mass Effect game is that it's being developed by Bioware, a company that has had heavy involvement in the previous Mass Effect games.  Secondly, the little we've seen of the game contains elements broadly similar to the universe we know - weapons, armor, vehicles and Krogans look almost the same as their previous versions, with a few modifications.  The short burst of Virgil's Theme at the end of the trailer shows BW are keen to show there's some continuity amongst all the differences, as is also demonstrated by the focus on N7.

[AlanC9]

Familiar races. Familiar techs. Shared history.

[CHRrOME]

 

Asides from a shared timeline though, what makes it a Mass Effect game?

 

Contrary to popular belief, Mass Effect is not about Sheppard, nor the Milky Way.

It's hard to describe, but the franchise itself is about the actual "mass effect" (eezo, FTL, biotics, mass drives, etc) and how this affects the galaxy (any galaxy). So, just because is set on a new galaxy doesn't mean that it has to be called differently.

 

Like Dragon Age, the franchise is not about blights, is about the world itself.

 

I hope I made myself clear.

[S.W.]

Contrary to popular belief, Mass Effect is not about Sheppard, nor the Milky Way.

It's hard to describe, but the franchise itself is about the actual "mass effect" (eezo, FTL, biotics, mass drives, etc) and how this affects the galaxy (any galaxy). So, just because is set on a new galaxy doesn't mean that it has to be called differently.

 

Like Dragon Age, the franchise is not about blights, is about the world itself.

 

I hope I made myself clear.

 

Perfectly. I wouldn't want to see Shepard in this upcoming game for the world.

 

However, I'm interested if there will be any more continuity beyond tech and the timeline. For instance, do you reckon that synthetic-organic relations will ever crop up again - like, the ideas explored in the conflict between the geth and the quarians - or do you reckon they exhausted that discussion completely with the way they simplified and shoehorned in that discussion into starchild's dialogue at the end of ME3? What kind of big themes will we be looking at instead, if not?

[pdusen]

If it looks like Mass Effect and smells like Mass Effect, then its probably Mass Effect.

[RoboticWater]

Perfectly. I wouldn't want to see Shepard in this upcoming game for the world.

 

However, I'm interested if there will be any more continuity beyond tech and the timeline. For instance, do you reckon that synthetic-organic relations will ever crop up again - like, the ideas explored in the conflict between the geth and the quarians - or do you reckon they exhausted that discussion completely with the way they simplified and shoehorned in that discussion into starchild's dialogue at the end of ME3? What kind of big themes will we be looking at instead, if not?

Yes and no.

 

Part of what makes old Trek so great is its thematic fluidity (if that's a sensible term); though consistently centered around space age ideals, the themes of the show could change dramatically between episodes. Part of what makes Mass Effect so great is that it can be essentially that in video game form, flowing between various ideals that are best presented in a sci-fi setting.

 

Part of what makes Star Wars so great is that it's a vast universe with enough interest and free space to spark and fuel plenty of diverse stories. It spawned games like KotOR II, which explored a part of the force rarely shown on screen or in novels, and managed to utilize the full potential of the medium to do it. And Mass Effect has some of that too.

 

So to answer your question, yes, we'll see synthetic/organic conflict again because it's too intertwined with the setting to simply ignore but no, I can't imagine BioWare retreading the same exact conflict because I have hope that their creative drive will impel them towards at least a few new thematic concepts. Even if they do rehash the same conflict (God help us), they'll probably have the sense to add a different spin on it for everyone's sake. 

[Indigenous]

For instance, do you reckon that synthetic-organic relations will ever crop up again - like, the ideas explored in the conflict between the geth and the quarians - or do you reckon they exhausted that discussion completely with the way they simplified and shoehorned in that discussion into starchild's dialogue at the end of ME3?

 

It will be interesting to see how they bring up synthetic-organic relations. That story has already been told, but it was such a big part of the original trilogy that I can't see it not being present in Andromeda. It will probably be part of the history of Andromeda, maybe even recent history.

 

 

Contrary to popular belief, Mass Effect is not about Sheppard, nor the Milky Way.

 

That's not really true. Is it? 

[Sanunes]

Look at the differences between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2, those two are fundamentally different games aside from the side mentioning of Reapers and Shepard was our avatar.  I think there is going to be more in common between Mass Effect: Andromeda and Mass Effect 2 & 3 then there was between Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 & 3, the big difference is only that Shepard won't be there and then again depending on how people play the game it could be exactly the same just with a difference voice since people could customize the look of Shepard as well.

[MrFob]

Gonna repost this from an old thread. 

There are several crucial points for me that make Mass Effect what it is. I hope I can name them all without forgetting one:
1. The art style: This is probably the most important actually, the way it looks. Sleek lines, lot's of lens flare, lot's of reflections, double barrel guns, the layered hard suits and of course the sweeping arcs everywhere, all that is extremely important. If they were to change that, I'd not recognize it at all. I already have trouble seeing a lot of ME in the comics or in Paragon Lost because they don't quite capture that (interestingly, the Marauder Shields comics capture the art style of the franchise way better than the original comics) .
2. The technology. Give us Eezo and build pretty much everything else on extrapolations of modern day science (more or less). That's when ME is at it's best. There are a few instances when this rule was broken in the trilogy and these are exactly the worst parts of it IMO.
3. The Music. There are a few very distinct themes in the Mass Effect OST. They belong into any ME medium that has music IMO.
4. A protagonist with a space ship. Of course, you can make an ME game where the protagonist doesn't have a space ship but it would diminish the ME experience to no end. Ok, maybe the PC doesn't have to own the ship but space travel in some form at least is crucial. For example, sometimes I hear people ask for a GTA like game on the citadel, I wouldn't want that.
5. A sense of wonder and scale: In ME1 it was the uncharted worlds, in ME2 it was the danger of the terminus systems and in ME3 it was the scale of the war. Every time we had something that gave us this sense of wonder and scale in the ME universe.
6. Prolific characters! Need I say more? In that sense, all the ME publications so far speak for themselves.

What I do not need:
- A specific place: I think ME can take place anywhere, new ones, old ones, that doesn't matter
- A specific person: ME is not just Shepard or anyone else. references to old character are good but I can also go with entirely new ones.
- A specific gameplay mechanic: No, it doesn't have to be a shooter-action RPG. I would love to see a space-sim (Freelander in the ME universe!!!),  could imagine an ego shooter with the right story. Even a strategy game (not my favorite genre but hey, that's my problem). ME could be anything, movies, tv series, theme parks ( ) bring it on.

 

Given all of these criteria, I think ME:a can fit just fine if executed well.

[dreamgazer]

What makes it a ME game?

Magic brain filters, daddy issues, and color-coded morality, of course.

[dreamgazer]

Familiar races. Familiar techs. Shared history.

 
Or that.

[Nethershadow]

It will be interesting to see how they bring up synthetic-organic relations. That story has already been told, but it was such a big part of the original trilogy that I can't see it not being present in Andromeda. It will probably part of the history of Andromeda, maybe even recent history.

 

 

 

That's not really true. Is it? 

The thing I am noticing on the boards here though is that many want a clean slate, and that includes the Reapers and synthetics element. So if they bring back the synthetic - organic struggles then what was the point of going to a new galaxy to start a clean slate?

[Afro_Explosion]

The Title.

[LightningPoodle]

I'm not entirely sure. There is nothing to say that the communities of other Galaxies use FTL, Eezo, Biotics etcetera like the different races of the Milky Way. There is nothing to say that the Reapers harvest the inhabitants of other Galaxies, so those civilisations will not have advanced the same way that the species of the Milky Way did, time and again, using the Mass Relays and that technology.

[prosthetic soul]

Contrary to popular belief, Mass Effect is not about Sheppard, nor the Milky Way.

It's hard to describe, but the franchise itself is about the actual "mass effect" (eezo, FTL, biotics, mass drives, etc) and how this affects the galaxy (any galaxy). So, just because is set on a new galaxy doesn't mean that it has to be called differently.

 

Like Dragon Age, the franchise is not about blights, is about the world itself.

 

I hope I made myself clear.

Says who?  You?

[Indigenous]

The thing I am noticing on the boards here though is that many want a clean slate, and that includes the Reapers and synthetics element. So if they bring back the synthetic - organic struggles then what was the point of going to a new galaxy to start a clean slate?

 

They don't have to bring it back as a main part of the story as it was in the original trilogy, just acknowledge it somehow. Either by referencing the Milky Way conflict or by making it a part of Andromeda's (recent) history.

[Zehealingman]

The MEU means much more then Shepard+Normandy to me. The races, the tech, etc ..

[N7Jamaican]

It will fit just fine.  It will have it's similarities and it's differences

[PhroXenGold]

Says who?  You?

 

Given that ME:A is being made, Bioware are saying just that.

[Uccio]

Familiar races. Familiar techs. Shared history.

 

But there are no Mass Relays which are essential for the game. Besides, how is traveling going to work over long distances without them?

[PhroXenGold]

But there are no Mass Relays which are essential for the game. Besides, how is traveling going to work over long distances without them?

 

Ships are still capable of speeds in the region of 10ly/d without the relays, and based on the survey that was leaked a few months back, we're not exploring the entire of the Andromeda galaxy, only a cluster within it, so speeds higher that that aren't neccesary (and indeed, I think having distance and time actually mean something would add greatly to the "frontier" feel that ME:A seems to be trying to achieve).

[Chealec]

Familiar races. Familiar techs. Shared history.

 

 

Contrary to popular belief, Mass Effect is not about Sheppard, nor the Milky Way.

It's hard to describe, but the franchise itself is about the actual "mass effect" (eezo, FTL, biotics, mass drives, etc) and how this affects the galaxy (any galaxy). So, just because is set on a new galaxy doesn't mean that it has to be called differently.

 

Like Dragon Age, the franchise is not about blights, is about the world itself.

 

I hope I made myself clear.

 

 

Gonna repost this from an old thread. 

There are several crucial points for me that make Mass Effect what it is. I hope I can name them all without forgetting one:
1. The art style: This is probably the most important actually, the way it looks. Sleek lines, lot's of lens flare, lot's of reflections, double barrel guns, the layered hard suits and of course the sweeping arcs everywhere, all that is extremely important. If they were to change that, I'd not recognize it at all. I already have trouble seeing a lot of ME in the comics or in Paragon Lost because they don't quite capture that (interestingly, the Marauder Shields comics capture the art style of the franchise way better than the original comics) .
2. The technology. Give us Eezo and build pretty much everything else on extrapolations of modern day science (more or less). That's when ME is at it's best. There are a few instances when this rule was broken in the trilogy and these are exactly the worst parts of it IMO.
3. The Music. There are a few very distinct themes in the Mass Effect OST. They belong into any ME medium that has music IMO.
4. A protagonist with a space ship. Of course, you can make an ME game where the protagonist doesn't have a space ship but it would diminish the ME experience to no end. Ok, maybe the PC doesn't have to own the ship but space travel in some form at least is crucial. For example, sometimes I hear people ask for a GTA like game on the citadel, I wouldn't want that.
5. A sense of wonder and scale: In ME1 it was the uncharted worlds, in ME2 it was the danger of the terminus systems and in ME3 it was the scale of the war. Every time we had something that gave us this sense of wonder and scale in the ME universe.
6. Prolific characters! Need I say more? In that sense, all the ME publications so far speak for themselves.

What I do not need:
- A specific place: I think ME can take place anywhere, new ones, old ones, that doesn't matter
- A specific person: ME is not just Shepard or anyone else. references to old character are good but I can also go with entirely new ones.
- A specific gameplay mechanic: No, it doesn't have to be a shooter-action RPG. I would love to see a space-sim (Freelander in the ME universe!!!),  could imagine an ego shooter with the right story. Even a strategy game (not my favorite genre but hey, that's my problem). ME could be anything, movies, tv series, theme parks ( ) bring it on.

 

Given all of these criteria, I think ME:a can fit just fine if executed well.

 

It's so much easier to click "Multiquote" than write a response

[Dr. Rush]

Contrary to popular belief, Mass Effect is not about Sheppard, nor the Milky Way.

 

Right, this is why I love ME1 so much. IMO, ME1 is the only ME game that isn't entirely about Shep and Reapers, ME2 and 3 are completely monopolized by them. But ME1 was about more than either, it was about a new galaxy teeming with alien life. ME1 was about planetary exploration and humanity's first foray into galactic colonization. Helping out colonies and fighting against pirates or alien beasts. There was a lot in ME1 that made the game feel like it had a gigantic scale, a full galaxy of planets and adventures to explore.

 

This is what was lost when ME2 and 3 decided to chose higher fidelity graphics over a large scale world. All the graphics got

prettier, but the world got much, much smaller in scale. The Citadel became a tiny area, every planet hub was tiny. ME1 was a real open-galaxy game with a meaningful emphasis on exploration, ME2 and 3 became highly story-driven third-person shooters, and not much else. 

 

I think No Man's Sky is tapping into that exploration element of what made ME1 so special. And I also think ME4 is going to go back to these roots of exploring an untamed galaxy, filled with pirates and alien beasts.

 

Before becoming monopolized by the Shep/Reaper bits, Mass Effect was a game about galactic exploration and colonization. And I think Mass Effect can be that type of game again.