The closer we get to the release of Mass Effect Andromeda (which is still up in the air given EA’s recent statements), the more details pop up here and there. Recently we learned that the big antagonists in this chapter in the long running series are going to be the Kett.
Now that we know who the enemies are going to be, we’ve also found out a bit more about the story in Andromeda is going to unfold. Game Director Mac Walters recently sat down with Game Informer and talked about how the company is going about making this game.
“It’s the characters that people remember and they have to be caught up in something special and interesting, but that’s really where it needs to start. That’s actually, I think, where a lot of the team’s confidence came from. We know how to make amazing characters. That’s also where a lot of the freedom came from, we were like, okay, if we were to populate Mass Effect Andromeda with characters what would they look like? That gets the ball rolling, people start talking rather than being too concerned about whether this plot is as exciting as the last plot or whether this story is as epic as the last story. Let’s actually start with characters, I think a lot of our early development was around the characters and that really helped,” Walter stated.
Walters also talked about how the devs are looking to make the story just a little more light hearted. The reason for this isn’t necessarily because the devs didn’t like the way the older stories unfolded. Rather the devs have looked at changing it up because they heard from players that they didn’t like taking on a bunch of side stories, when the main mission made it out to look as though the universe was about to come to an end.
“If we wanted to explore this new galaxy, I think people were saying “Don’t make me feel like if I go off and do this little sidequest, I’m letting the universe burn”. That led us to thinking more about a slightly lighter tone. There’s still going to be stakes, there’s going to be huge stakes in this game. As Pathfinder, humanity is relying on you to find a home in Mass Effect Andromeda. At the same time, it’s a little different than “Every 50,00 years the entire galaxy gets level set, maybe you should get on that Shepard”. It’s a matter of degrees, right?,” he explained.
Walters added there will still be stakes in how a player takes on the world of Mass Effect: Andromeda but those high stakes will let up a bit on certain side missions. We’ll get to see how all this ties into one another when Mass Effect: Andromeda launches sometime next year.
