Mass Effect Andromeda – Going Open World
The original Mass Effect was a rather open RPG, letting players explore the surfaces of planets and tackle things in whatever order they chose to. When Bioware developed the sequels, they removed the jank but also the exploration, and we were left with right, polished games with hugely focused storytelling, but mostly linear progression and directed player agency. There were many who wanted a return to the original game’s style, but with the polish and improvements of the second and third games. Win win, right? So, Mass Effect Andromeda goes open world, directly evoking the original game, and… is a poorer game for it. While the combat was great (remember, this was the thing Bioware perfected in the second and third games), the open world was banal and trite, with tiresome padding and fetchquests that diluted the storytelling and brought the good parts of the game, such as they were, down. Not everything needs to be open world, folks.
