The Problem With Mass Effect: Andromeda & "Bigger Is Better"

I disagree. For me, I enjoy the classic RPG approach to games which is what I believe the developers went for here. There's a core story arc that you can plow through or pace yourself with and then there is a litany of side content that is consistent with the narrative focus of the game and builds upon the overall universe that you're exploring/creating. I love this style of game as it allows me to engage the content in way that feels natural. I feel like far too few reviewers appreciated the careful crafting that was required to make this world feel authentic and believable. It's all there. Whether you decide to pay attention to it is entirely up to you.

In my opinion we have plenty of brief heavily narrative focused games that players can get through in 10-20 hours. That isn't what I want from a space based RPG epic. Perhaps I'm in, what appears to be, a narrow subsect of gamers that appreciate ambition and depth. I wouldn't give BotW a 10/10 but I also don't see how MEA is worse than Ghost Recon Wildlands. I guess I'm just a dying breed.

Really? This is when game journalists over argue their position. There is indeed filler, but its only 20% of the game. And its not like the other games in the series had filler.

MEA is not that big, its actually smaller than DAI when it comes to world size. But here is the deal that Jess and other game journalists miss about Andromeda. The game is a huge narrative web, where storylines come together and meet constantly, where a mission can deal with three issues at once, and where quest design actually came from story design.

If you want a worse example than MEA, try FFXV. Some how journalists want to ignore its filler content and bash MEA instead. What do you know, reviewers praised its filler. This is why I do not trust game reviewers anymore.

And really looking back, the Mass Effect Trilogy has some very glaring faults, than Andromeda actually fixes, so really its not a step backwards. In fact, I could argue that ME2 was a step backwards to ME1, and that MEA went back to ME1 and expanded on it while keeping the best of ME2 and ME3.

This just in - Jess says, size doesn't matter.

Totally disagree with this video because if the maps had been smaller then people would've moaned that they didnt get enough driving time in the nomad. And whats the point in making these planets look amazing if no one is going to take the time on them to explore ?.

Excellent review. Couldn't have explained it better myself! ???

What a great video. Explains exactly what is wrong with the game. I also can agree with the statement that the game really kicks into gear at the 40-50 hour mark.... I spent a total of 70 hours in the game and got a 96% completion. I am happy to be done with it. I am currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn and it is not even funny how much better the game looks and feels. It is a perfect statement saying that Mass Effect Andromeda is not a bad game but a hollow game with some good experiences mixed in. Not the best effort from Bioware.

Nice feature folks, I like this. Is this going to be a more frequent feature where you guys analyze a particular game design choice that made or broke any given game?

I would love to se more content like this, keep up the great work folks.

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The Witcher 3 is constantly referenced in these kind of videos and I think I need to pick it up finally this summer. It seems like CDPR did open world correctly while Bioware didn't.

Wow, finally. Someone who isn't making a big fuss over animations. Animations and glitches can be fixed easily, but the more worrisome thing IS bioware's obsession with bigger.

I recall an article where a dev for DA:I mentioned that Skyrim was an influence for that game. And I think that Inquisition had similar, severe problems as Andromeda: dialogue, meaningful choices, and interesting outcomes were sacrificed for the sake of "big."

Big, as you point out, is also bland and boring most of the time. Although KoToR or Dragon Age Origins were around 15-20 hours of gametime, I replayed those games about 4-5 times, excited to see how different choices would change my experience--and I was never let down.

This is the Bioware I fell in love with.

With Inquisition and Andromeda, I shudder to think of playing them through again; there's too much trekking towards menial tasks with little payback, and hardly any meaningful or rewarding choices to be made.

Thank you, Jess, for putting a highlight on this issue. I'm afraid that Bioware will continually chase towards this Bigger path and thus ruin what made them great to begin with. Im afraid they'll just chalk up Andromeda's rough launch to bugs and animation issues, but not to these vastly different changes to gameplay design and philosophy.

I don't play Bioware games for 100 hours of bland MMO-esque chores in a big zone, but rather for engaging conversations with unique characters and a plethora of meaningful decisions that impact my experience on each play through.

Please, share *this* with Bioware. I'm afraid they'll arbitrarily focus on making the next KoToR reboot BIG, and toss out all the things I once valued with it.

I got so bored of the game that I had to drag myself through the end. The ending is about as lackluster as it gets. The choices in the game don't matter.. Mass Effect, a series about choices, and in Andromeda none of them matter.. There were exactly two times in the whole game that I saw you could push "RT" during a cutscene, one was to hug Cora and the other was something I can't even remember. The game has no soul

Problem with feeling like a hero, was that in this game, you don't start off as one. You become one over time. Devs mentioned this before launch.

Shepard, on the other hand, started as a hero who later became a legend.

A new ME was unnecessary. Hopefully it ends now, a perfectly good IP tainted by this pos.

Absolutely love Andromeda, it might be the most fun ive had this generation so far!

*spends six minutes lambasting Mass Effect Andromeda*

"please, don't misunderstand, I don't think it's a bad game."

Why does everyone do this? Can some one ever have the balls to just come out and say "This game isn't very good?" Because Mass Effect Andromeda IS a bad game.

Some people seem to feel it doesn’t live up to the series?

Change that to, a lot, xD.