IGN: Fort Tarsis Exploration Gameplay Video (updated)

So the conversation with Zoe: I swear that sounds like Katy Townsend (Suvi from MEA). Anyone else think/hope?

That was a huge character background info dump, much faster than NPC backgrounds are revealed compared to DA or ME. Which suggests to me that they may have streamlined NPC character development for the sake of the non-SP players getting a big dose of story for the first time. Easing them in, so to speak. If true, I'm a bit divided. I'm saddened if character development is spoonfed and uncomplicated, just the facts mam, and make it snappy. But I'm also philosophical that it's probably the right call, given the broader player base they are going after.

I ninja'd and edit to my original reply, take a look and let me know what you think.

Guessing what this means could be fun...

Fort Tarsis looks a lot emptier than the original E3 trailer, which isn't surprising since if they had kept that density of NPCs it would've been a pain to just walk around, running into people left and right. Then again, I suppose more NPCs can show up as the fort evolves over time. The NPCs that are present seem awfully static, though. It kind of gives the impression that the fort is occupied but not lived-in.

It also looks like they did a generally good job of hand-keying facial animations for even the lower-tier convos (which I assume these are). The convo with Propsero especially had some nice facial touches that accentuated what he was saying.

On the hand, something about some of the NPC faces just seems off, specifically Zoe and the Sentinel commander. When I look at them, I get the distinct feeling that I'm not looking at a real human face, unlike with e.g. Prospero, Tassyn, or Owen. I can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong, but I've watched the video multiple times now and can't shake that feeling.

I think this might be Anthems version of a clan system. The way it has a leveling system to it kinda reminds me of the Clan system from Destiny. As you level up your clan, you get relatively small bonuses (like increased resources). Anthem could be trying to deliver a similar system, since it says it needs you to add friends to your list. I'm guessing the Weekly contributor bonus applies to the current player, and you will receive an end-of-week payout. The size of the payout would be dependent upon how much you contributed for the clan/Alliance. All guesses on my part, of course.

Same, though I thought they were all a bit off, compared to DAI and, say, GoW. Zoe's was definitely the most off. But I'm playing RDR2 right now and some of the NPCs in that game are just as much off.

Let's face it, after MEA we're hypersensitized to facial animation quality. I for one have scrutinized every game I've played since MEA for this flaw. Some games are better than others, that's for sure. RDR2 definitely has some offputting facial animations, but not so bad that I hate the game or are even distracted by it. To me, it's becoming kind of like the occasional pop-in or low-res texture in any game, a flaw, but not a major one.

NPC density, especially around the merchants, might be time of day sensitive (Anthem has a day/night cycle), there might also be mission sensitive event as well (we actually have seen one that cause NPCs like Zoe to not be at the Forge).

There is probably a settings related to it to improve performance as well, especially on consoles.

Could be, I'm not that well versed in Northern Irish vs Scottish accent to tell.

No real spoilers. Just some interactions with some NPCs but nothing spoiled storywise

Watched. Basically it shows what was supposed to be demonstrated during the botched streaming. Nothing major for me but you can see that's an early build due to some textures not loading properly

And everyone's wearing hats to cover up the Bioware hairstyles again. Except on Mr. Sentinel, who's terrible do is visible for all to see.

I had to go back and rewatch, because I didn't remember Zoe, Prospero, or Captain Sentinel wearing hats. And they don't. Neither does Owen or Haluk.

But what I think you mean is that no one has long hair. They either have short hair, are bald, or are wearing a head covering of some type. And yeah, that probably is because modeling long hair is hard and they didn't want to invest effort in that.