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Every now and then, I think about Mass Effect 5. Well, that’s not quite true. Every now and then I think about Mass Effect 4, which is what I have always thought of the new 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mass Effect game as. This isn't supposed to rewrite history and expunge 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Andromeda from the record, but I’ve always viewed Andromeda as a spin-off. It takes place in a new galaxy, in a new era, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:and introduces the angarans while trad꧃ing out the drell, hanar, elcor, and most perplexingly, the quarians. It’s not a continuation of Mass Effect, and more to the point, the next Mass Effect game will be, at least a little bit. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:There mightꦍ not be Shepard (please, no Shepard), but Liara will be𝄹 there anꦰd we’re back in the Milky Way. For that reason, I’ll think of it as Mass Effect 4 until told otherwise. Here though, let’s call it M🎃ass Effect 5.
I’ll break my usual habit because the Mass Effect 4/Mass Effect 5 split is something of an ideological divide within the Mass Effect fanbase. You can play the centrist and call it The Next Mass Effect Game if you want, but a lot of people who use Mass Effect 5 do so to 𝓰demand acknowledgement for Andromeda, while many of those who use Mass Effect 4 are pushing for the opposite. Mass Effect 4 is more popular on Google, which is in-keeping with the general consensus of the fanbase. While I am a Mass Effect 4 truther for more pedantic reasons, I’m throwing my lot in with the Mass Effect 5 gang and demanding that Andromeda be a core buildin𒁏g block for The Next Mass Effect Game.
I know Andromeda isn’t perfect. I’ve played through all four games multiple t🧔imes, and I have much fonder memories of both Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 than I do for Andromeda. The first game is nowhere near as polished as we remember, and struggles to build the interesting characters the series is known for, with the p𒐪ossible exception of Wrex. Even Garrus and Tali don’t fully develop until the sequel, while Liara’s personality transplant that comes with her role as an information broker is much needed.
The things we all know and love Mass Effect for are largely absent in Andromeda. Everyone talks ab♕out the weird facial animations, but the characters beneath those f💞aces are shallow and poorly defined. It’s like the first Mass Effect all over again, and considering it was a reboot in a new galaxy made while BioWare was ringing the changes, it basically was. Only two new races (which was really just one when you consider the evil race was a husk of the good race) were introduced, and the usual Mass Effect nuance was gone, as is proven by the fact the races can be split into ‘good’ or ‘bad’. A few new squadmates were decent but not a patch on the Normandy’s greatest hits, and the plot was stilted, nonsensical, and poorly paced.
I know this sounds like a terrible d🧜efence of Andromeda, but trust me, I’m getting to that. For all of Andromeda’s flaws, it had the best gameplay in the series. The combat changed a lot across Mass Effect, with the initial game an RPG with some gunplay before Mass Effect 2 became more of an action-shooter with roleplay elements, but it wasn’t until Andromeda that it peaked with punchy weapons, lightning fast movement, and a range of environmental hazards. Some purists might lament the shift to even more action-based gameplay, b🐓ut it’s likely this is the direction the series will continue to head in, which is why Andromeda is so important.
Andromeda also no longer relied on you choosing your archetype at the start, but instead evolving your powers in a way that best suits you as you go. Sure, it sounds cool to try out a pure Tech combat set, but being locked into it for a whole game when you just want to blast enemies apart with biotic orbs or carry a gun more powe𒐪rful than a pistol isn’t much fun. Andromeda was a step back in most ways that count for a Mass Effect game, but it was a leap forward in the easiest way to copy.
Most games want to have a good story, with iconic characters, nuanced moral dilemmas, paced in the most engaging and absorbing way. But you can’t just put Mass Effect 2 into a computer and have it spit out a new game with all those elements rearranged in a different yet equally satisfying way. Andromeda’s combat, howe﷽ver, can be copied. I don’t know what Mass Effect 5’s story will be like, and I’m not sure if just adding in Liara is enough to capture the original trilogy’s magic. But if it uses Andromeda’s combat engine, maybe with a little bit of polish and some new abilities thrown in there, it will at least be a lot of fun to play, even if it’s not very good.