Info from the PC Gamer (UK) issue

PC Gamer (UK) spoke with BioWare for their cover story in the new issue. These are some highlights (not really new info)!

- There is no 'big bad' like the Reapers, no overarching threat.
- The story is slightly more optimistic bent, 'instead of barreling towards certain doom'
- The stories are 'of a more casual nature', says Michael Gamble
- Father passes down Pathfinder job 'for as-yet-unknown reasons' in first act
- Some of the Initiative apparantly 'broke off and formed factions'
- Planets will have enemy bases to clear out, powerful optional enemies and areas to scan for crafting opportunities
- There are also puzzle-locked vaults to uncover
- Fabrice: “We are approaching the completionist aspect very differently, because we’ve done and learned a lot from Inquisition. But we’ve also observed what other games have been doing, like The Witcher. And it was very important for us that the quantity of scope doesn’t downgrade the quality of whatever you are doing there.”
- Side quests are 'meaningful'.
- Loyalty missions like in ME2
- 'Not everyone arrives at the same time, there are things going on in Andromeda that you have no control over.'
- Cora is 'more militaristic and orders and rules based', Peebee will appeal to those who think adventure is fun
- Interrupts return
- "The ability to express tone and different emotions to many NPCs in the game, and have different reactions from them based on that, is not just exclusive to your love interests anymore. It’s kind of sprinkled more throughout the game."
- Instead of rolling you use a dash attack and cover is automatic
- Story missions are a little more arena-like (than out in the open world)
- Space (the map) is more 3D than 2D

Most important bit:

There are also over a dozen ‘hubs’ in addition to the planet areas, including the Nexus, a Citadel-like space station, and Kadara, a populated zone that looks like a more cyberpunk version of a Wild West town from Firefly.