joejuba

I want to be honest with you folks during this, so believe me when I say I wish I had more information to share on this front. The folks at BioWare were pretty tight-lipped when it came to details regarding specific romantic interactions and who they might be with.

I get it. The characters and their romantic arcs are many fans' favorite part of Mass Effect, so I can understand not wanting to spoil them. But I'm right there with you – I wish I knew, too.

What I CAN say about romance, however, is that the team seems committed to offering of broader range of interactions. Like, it won't just be "pursue a love interest, make the right dialogue options, then have sex before the final dungeon." Some characters might be up for a longer term thing, some might just be flings. Some might completely unromance-able, but even in those cases, the dev team wants to make the culminations of those relationships interesting – even if they aren't sexy.

This is an interesting question, and probably my biggest one prior to our studio visit. The short answer is: It depends on what you think "Mass Effect" means.

There's no Shepard. There's no paragon/renegade. There are no set classes. These are things that I would have considered central to Mass Effect's identity – but somehow, the integrity of the experience doesn't seem breached without them.

If you look at the other things that define Mass Effect – agency, exploration, fun gameplay – those are all still there. And they're layered in with new stuff that seems like a good fit for the franchise.

Sorry that's a bit of a wishy-washy response, but it's an especially subjective topic. To me, yes, it feels like Mass Effect.

Ah! So, here's the thing about other races: 4 specifically came to Andromeda on the Arks (Turian, Salarian, Human, Asari). However, the Nexus (which is kind of like Andromeda's version of the Citadel) was sent ahead of the Arks, and the Nexus had a more varied staff.

I don't know specifically which other races (apart from Krogan) got to Andromeda via the Nexus, but theoretically, it could be any of them.

At the same time, because this is the fresh start for the series, I don't think the team wants to overwhelm players with a bunch of weirdo aliens, so don't expect ALL of them to show up. If I had to bet, I'd say Quarians will be there. I wouldn't be so confident in C-tier species like Vorcha, Batarians, etc...

-We only got to see the "quick start" option, so I didn't get a look at the specifics of the customization system. However, the team did say that there are more options than there were before. Whether or not the body adjustments are a part of that, I can't say.

-I think your best option for replaying missions will be New Game+, which lets you start over with your end-game character. However, interesting thing to note: This time, you can change your gender when starting a NG+ (I think you were stuck with your Shepard as-is in the original trilogy, right?). I'd be surprised if you could just play a mission you'd already finished in the same playthrough.

-This is actually part of the story setting that I really like. Most members of the Andromeda Initiative don't know about the Reaper threat. If they did, everyone's reason for joining would be "Our galaxy is screwed, the Reapers are coming, let's get out of here." By taking that out of the equation, the team opens up what I think are more interesting narrative branches for why people joined the Andromeda Initiative. What might someone be running from, if not the Reapers? Maybe they just want to make a fresh start. Maybe they need to hide. Personally, I think that approach will make getting to know characters more interesting.

That's actually a really tricky question. Chronologically speaking, I don't know what the first big difference is that players will notice.

But, from a broader perspective, the biggest change I noticed was the drive toward more player-guided exploration.

Like, you know how doing side content in previous games always felt a little silly, because the world was basically ending and you were sitting there scanning for minerals or chilling in a dance club? In Andromeda, part of your directive is just "Explore and find a place where people can live." That's a pretty wide narrative pathway that means pretty much anything you choose to do is contributing your ultimate goal.

So you can do whatever seems fun to you – mining, crafting, loyalty missions, even entire optional planets – and all of it is part of your mission.

Of course, I'm sure Ryder faces some sort of threat, too. It's not just "My Andromeda Vacation," but the team at BioWare really seems to be focusing on the sense of discovery first and foremost.