Let's be honest: openworld is the problem

yes, gigantic maps with boring fetch quests, gather plants/materials/ info logs, shards, etc, thousands of them, over and over again
or scan and scan over and over again,
i prefer not open world, just normal maps, like the trilogy, and more content inside those maps!

How is Ubisoft superior? Sure they look good but aren't that high on content. I think some of WB games would have been better if they where linear tbh. 

This does look like another big swing and a miss for Bioware and open world.

I'd be happy with ME5 (assuming we get one) going back to corridors, so long as the game was well made. Not every game needs to be Skyrim or The Witcher 3.

Arkham knight, City, origin and middle-earth did open world better than DAI and MEA. I base this primarily on how much shitfetch quests there are.

Ubisoft games like AC4, AC2 and Far Cry 3 do it better as well. It's only recent titles that they fuck up on.

Well I don't like open world games full stop. Didn't like Morrowind or Oblivion and never tried Skyrim because of that. Didn't like Assassin Creed games. I didn't like The Witcher 3   To me it was just a slower tedious version of The Witcher 2, which had its strength in the story and not in the game play. It does annoy me a bit that people gush over those games yet crucify Bioware for the same slow pace tedious gameplay, although I guess with some of them it is mainly down to polish.

I do like the combat at least in MEA (which is infinitely better than witcher combat) so hopefully that will entertain me but there seems to be a lot of problems with the game, including a large number of technical problems. It has a giant scope and doesn't really feel finished, smooth or remotely well play tested. This game is not really targeted at me (the single player part at least), but even the people who love these slow paced open world games do not seem impressed. I'm really questioning a lot of the design decisions Bioware are making and I think they need to take a good hard look at what they have actually produced and consider whether they are actually proud of it.

I'm not going to say I am done with Bioware, but they are not really making games I like any longer.

If they go back to linear boring missions, I probably won't play anymore. I think the issue is the lack of time polishing the open world in terms of missions and small details. Better for them to innovate than recreate again. I can see them narrowing down the scope some to allow for quality.

I also wonder if going back to making ME an Xbox/pc exclusive would help with the polish. I would buy something besides a PlayStation if it's worth it

take ME and ME2 maps for example, extremely atmosferic , you really feel in some of those unknow planets in the far reaches of the galaxy, or inside an alien ship or even a normal outpost,

Virmire, Ilos, Illium, Omega, the collector ship, the geth dreadnought, etc, not open worlds, but lot of ambience, depth, context, meaningful details
and still big enough to fight there, run, cover, use powers, and decisions,
recruitng archangel for example, you can decide how to protect and attack

the suicide mission for example, filled with content, not so big map, but big enough, you choose who attacks, who preotects, who escapes, etc,
every detail matters, meaninguful decisions and the perfect ambience and environment,
the streets of omega with sick people, the batarian preacher, no open worlds but small- normal maps

You nailed it.  I happen to enjoy exploration a lot.  The feeling of adventure is what I think Bioware is trying to capture but they miss key elements along the way.

I couldnt agree more OP.

Indeed I think Bioware needs to go back to their roots. They're trying to compete in this open world space and that completely betrays their strengths. As a result interesting (side)quests and the main story go out the window. All for what? The ability to trot around in an empty barren "world" that is not nearly as interesting as the Witcher 3s or Fallout New Vegas and Elder Scrolls (Curse you Bioware for making me praise Bethesda!)


Please, they need to bring back stats, linear design and try to appeal to hardcore gamers again. Play to their strengths. Bioware tried and failed, it's time to wheel it back, not everything needs to be open world. Of course this game will sell 1 million copies and Bioware/EA will just sort of shrug and do it again, but here's hoping against hope people speak out with their wallets instead of just typing about it and don't buy this.

I mean dodgy animations and character models I can deal with, but what irks me are the comparisons to Dragon Age: Inquisition and the crappy, MMO style sub-quests that completely killed my enthusiasm for that game and made it a real chore to finish.

Mass Effect has always been about the story, the political intrigue, the universe, and the characters/races that inhabit it, with some decent combat acting as the glue between them. To now give it this open-world style, and to fill it with random mobs and uninteresting busy work to pad out the experience in between the proper story mission is a really bad call, and has put me off wanting to bother with it altogether. A real shame, as they had an opportunity here to bring that old formula bang up to date (graphically and sonically) and tell another ripping yarn in a completely different setting.

What a waste...😖. For the next Mass Effect(if there is one) its time for Bioware to be Bioware. Stop this failed experiment.

Open worlds aren't a problem.

They are well designed, with lots of different structures and outposts etc.

The problem is the stuff they make you do on them.

Going up and scanning / finding / elminating / killing / activating / releasing someone or something, is never fun.

Having to do that 2 or 3 times, per mission, on all the different corners of a world? That's the problem.

This is the worst that exploration has been in this franchise since Mass Effect 1. Both space exploration, with that awful tedious space travel animation, and planetary exploration with mundane side-quests, make these worlds feel like massive, empty maps.

Let's be honest: Hi, Dutch.