BioWare’s Anthem received a smattering of new details at PAX West, including a date for the demo, and a new trailer discussing the “Our World, My Story” approach. However, for all the choices that players can make in their personal stories, there will only be two dialogue choices for conversations.
This was confirmed by PC Gamer when it attended a pre-panel briefing at PAX West. It also noted that the choices differ slightly in tone but don’t fit with any morality system. Upon asking executive producer Mark Darrah why the dialogue system was made so simple, he responded, “We are showing this to an audience that is not used to these kinds of decisions and conversations. We wanted to keep it simpler, but we also don’t want to present you with any false choices.”
While the shared world aspect, which includes the third person shooting, is consistent for all, the decisions made by the player in Fort Tarsis were outlined as being more personal. Players could learn more about the various characters present and even get to know their crew better. In this way, Anthem imbibes an individual narrative without conflicting with the shared world nature of the game.
However, BioWare has been hyping Anthem as more of a co-op action shooter with RPG elements rather than a full-blown role-playing game. Though the developer considers Anthem as an “evolution” of its craft, you have to wonder how Dragon Age and Mass Effect fans are going to respond to the limited dialogue options. Anthem is out on February 22nd, 2019 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
