Anylizing the RP mechanics in Mass Effect Andromeda, and where to go from here.

interesting. What would you call these hybrid options?

I felt like Ryder was really good for roleplaying for who he/she was when the game started. Ryder is green and new. Much as I like having a more evolved character who seems more decisive and less naive, this is who we got. So for that character, Ryder had good range. You could build him/her a myriad of ways. Some people didn't like dialogue options which I think to a degree in that they were spot on. The dialogue was not stellar and sometimes awful, but you could still get the tone of a character mostly.

The choices however for the sake of RPing were lackluster and part of that not having solid renegade type choices but I consider that part of the youth factor. Young and naive and paragon in nature because he/she came from a paragon type upbringing in general. However, to get more renegade options in the future as part of ryder's evolution they really need to create more events that shape ryder that way. Not sure we had enough stuff this time to really bring out the renegade whereas with Shepard (just as a comparison here) in ME2 had a lot of reason to become more renegade. Alliance essentially disgraced him/her indirectly by not standing behind what shepard said. Council did the same. Shepard just wanted to save people and keep something horrible from happening and was mocked for it (you hear this often through omega sound system) and had to team up with someone who was shady as hell and turned on you the first chance that came as well as throwing you to the wolves as it suited him to further the agenda. That can create a very renegade shepard as part of the natural development of the character. We do not have that yet but all that happened in MET specifically in ME2 so we could still have it happen, but they have not set up any situations where it would have a logical flow. They would need to add something to create that element that would trigger that jadedness. But that is only for the organic development of a renegade character. Some want to just start with it like the ruthless version of MET. To just be that hardcore darkness right out of the gate and there was no option for that at all.

Outside of that, the choices were generally lackluster. Krogan vs salarian meh. Kadara really was more about who feels better to you without any truly powerful kind of moral quandary. Romances were flirts which were sort of shameful compared to DAO where you had full conversations that created a feel of getting to know a character in a much more immersive way. Here you couldn't really RP much with them. There was zero complexity to them and zero complexity to their development. I remember in DAO romancing certain characters felt like really seeing things from their POV or at least not being against their POV. At times romancing in DAO through the conversation felt like walking through a minefield if a character said something and you really wanted a certain response that felt true to your character but that response was not the one that would win them over. Here? Flirt and screw. Shameful in design. Ideally, there should have been conversations where if you are not of the same mind with the character you are romancing then that becomes something you have to find some compromise in how you see things. Frankly, if they did that, I think that would make romances far better and develop those characters much more. And it should be conversations you have with all the characters even if you do not romance them. For instance, Cora about her dependence on others expecting sarissa to save them could have made for an amazing set up if you had a discussion about not seeing the need to have her save you then you and then you enter the ark and discover what you discover about sarissa. Liam - discussions about his doing end runs around rules and regs prior to his loyalty would have made that more powerful. PB could have been lack of responsibility and focused only on what she wants prior to her loyalty mission. While having them be part of all the conversations (not just romance limited), seeing how they factor into a developing romance to create some more depth in things would have been interesting. Now you have to decide where you sit in relation to what they believe and if they grown and change or you change in response to that. Conversations that could cause either option would be great or acceptance of divergent beliefs from both parties when fitting. That would be fascinating RPing for romances but I doubt they ever would bother.

I think the biggest renegade/paragon seeming choice was saving moshea and did you save angarans or destroy the base. Yet each of them are more complex and grey because there are short term/long term implications with each. Directly what happens right then would be renegade/paragon but likely aftermath could make the renegade choice seem less renegade. I think instead of renegade/paragon the system I noticed was hardcore pragmatic vs emotional.

Also RPing around the characters was limited to the point of nonexistent. Ideally, kicking PB and Liam off the tempest should have been an option.

I think Bioware has put all their eggs in the Dylan basket and the future of Bioware will be determined by the reception of Dylan.   I think they did this to the determent of everything else and for me, MEA is proof of that.

I have zero interest in an online multiplayer game from Bioware.  They have already proven to me that they can't create a stable multiplayer game anymore based on their last two tries.  I also don't enjoy games that charge you AAA price and are full of Micro-transactions.  I only play Bioware games for story and characters which imo, have taken a back seat to combat and world building/open world.

I could never connect with my Ryder, companions, or story/dialog.

That's not entirely true, since they're obviously developing the next Dragon Age title. While I suspect EA has high hopes for Dylan they're not a company to put all of their eggs in one basket, particularly with BioWare IP's.

I hope your right, but if Dylan and DA4 both get a mediocre reception, I could see Bioware going the way of the dodo.  Open world shooters/games are a dime a dozen.  The market is flooded with them.  This si the direction Bioware seems to be heading and unless they can knock it out of the park with one of their next two games, Bioware will become irrelevant in the gaming world.  IMO, they have already started down that path.

You want a more Renegade Ryder in the next installment? Then there has to be a tragedy. Something would have to be lost that can't be replaced that would lead to great bitterness. Otherwise a Renegade option for Ryder just doesn't fit within the context of the character. It would be a behavior attribute that would just be jarring without a reason for it.

Anyway, that's my two cents on the Paragon/Renegade options...