BioWare Twitch streams: 1pm & 4pm EST (10th) 1pm EST (11th) Recordings in OP

I also find that Mac's idea about "not necessarily gamifying it" is a bit misguided. There's a push for more "realism" in games nowadays and I used to be more on board with it but when I see it now, I can't help but feel like it's just going to make Andromeda feel less engaging to avoid having some sort of reward system in the dialogues. I don't expect there to be more choice/consequence feedback than in previous BioWare games and knowing their writing it's still going to feel black/white at times so the push for more "grey" ultimately risks falling flat and then the illusion of choice ends at some point. I always liked having an unbiased listing of choices though so the tone system in itself is a good choice I think. It always bothered me how paragon was = win and renegade was = worst outcome but I think BioWare struggles to make scenarios where there's either no way to win/lose via dialogue and if there is one part is biased over another rather than to create 2 or 4 different outcomes that are equally valid in some fashion. Ultimately it seems the tone system is more to immerse yourself than making choices (but I'm sure we'll also see choices in it). But again, if there's Guardians of the Galaxy humor in every mission or planet they're going to undercut any dramatic decisions we might make in some way. I really question their push for a more lighthearted tone in general. I like it because we're younger but they lose me when it turns out that it's downright comical and doesn't just apply to Ryder and squad but also the presentation of the world like a Turret standing in a door -- that's slapstick comedy, Hannah Montana humor. You'd have to be a very naive person to find that as hysterical as it's supposed to be.

But yeah, Mac's creative direction is very hit and miss. I dunno how much of the design is Ian's ideas either, except I recognize the KoA influences in the RPG mechanics from a mile away. I'm very skeptical about not being able to customize the squad almost at all. It could be anything but I have a feeling Mac had a say in this since their answer is "it makes them more individual". I sorta like and don't like this at the same time. It speaks to what Mac already said about not gamifying things in order to achieve believability and immersion, but you're still removing a layer of complexity to the RPG and I'm afraid it's going to suck some of the feedback of exploring and progressing as a player out of the game. At worst it does what I've had concerns about in the past; Squadmates are not integrated properly in the exploration game. Patrick Weekes said in his opinion the primary pillar of a BioWare game was companions, even above dialogue choices. If that's true, then I question the idea of locking squadmates out of customization let alone commands or control in the gameplay. Inquisition let you both control all of them and customize them a lot. I still didn't think the open-world element gelled very well with them because all they contributed to was banter and the combat didn't feel natural in the type of open-world environment with respawning enemies - not in the way it was done; a revamped DA:O-style which wasn't meant for huge open environments and the lack of tactical control was in the way. MEA feels slightly better in that it's a shooter I guess... but we'll see.

Loved the Eos video. Wish the hosts were a bit more serious though.
The Loyalty mission looked boring. Hopefully they are not all like that.

23rd soon?

I don't really get people who look for game changing writing. Bioware has never been top 1% when it comes to writing but they do a better job than most. Its not always consistent given that some of their writers are better than the others, but in general it sticks to the theme of the game and does a decent job of fleshing out characters and the world around them. Enough so that Im not really left dying for more information. I can submerge myself into the lore and look up a ton of pretty useless (but interesting) facts that keep me intrigued and teach me about the various cultures and characters. The characters were a pretty good highlight from ME2 (bar Jacob) and it seems so far that they've taken to making the new squad mates just as interesting.

As for the general direction of the story (from what we've gathered) Im pretty satisfied. Again, dont over-analyse and expect "the next big sci fi journey to top the charts"...its just another iteration on the Mass Effect franchise and at this stage its looking like a pretty good improvement over the last game. Im especially liking the lighter tone to allow for exploration without guilt.

Either way, If you enjoyed the past ME games Im sure you'll like this one just the same. I know I'll be enjoying it.