A while ago, I talked about how I avoid watching and reading stories of the same genre of my current work in progress – but there are always a few exceptions.
Now that the story for the whole Weight of the World series has been drafted, I feel a bit more confident about dipping back into sci-fi stories. One example has been Mass Effect (yes, I know it’s a game rather than a movie, TV show or book but the point stands), which is one of my favourite game series of all time.
There have been bumps along the way, sure. Nothing’s perfect, after all, but with the release of the Mass Effect Legendary Edition, I got to jump back in and relive it all over again.
It was amazing. I’d forgotten parts that felt almost new again!
With that playthrough done, I decided to continue on to Mass Effect: Andromeda, which, by all accounts, didn’t live up to the other games. I agree, but it’s not a terrible game – and it taught me a few strong lessons.
If, for whatever reason, you haven’t played it, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum but no guarantees.
If the trilogy is so good, why am I focusing now on Andromeda?
I could go on for hours about both the good and poor elements of each and every Mass Effect game, but the original trilogy was so contained that, despite its flaws (Mass Effect 3’s ending, anyone?), it coalesced and made a complete story. Sure, DLC helped flesh a few things out, but Shepard and the Normandy’s crew also saved those weaker elements.
Unfortunately, this is also an area where Andromeda missed the mark.
In any good story, the characters – and their relationships – can make or break it, and this revolves around the protagonist. Perhaps Ryder was always going to fail to live up to Shepard, but their relationships (and not the romantic kind) didn’t live up for me.
A great example of this is with Cora, one of the human party members. She’s set to be the next Pathfinder before Ryder is given the mantle, but other than a couple of lines, there’s no real backlash here. She’s disciplined, but you can’t tell me she’s over it that quickly – she’s trained for this, been groomed for this, and is just…fine, that Ryder got the job instead? Factors outside of their control dictated this, but it’s too easy.
That’s never a good thing, and similar issues run throughout the game.
There are some great moments in the game, though they are easily missed. My favourite is an exchange between Cora and Peebee (another party member) that takes place on a message board. If you don’t check all these areas often, you’ll miss some of what does make Andromeda stand out and that’s a massive shame. Ultimately, there aren’t enough of these – and not in obvious enough places to be encountered easily.
Good graphics and gameplay, but overall uninspiring
Overall, Mass Effect: Andromeda is gorgeous game. While it might not live up to the titles of today, it was a marked step up from the original trilogy, as you’d expect. It’s a bit clunk at times, but easy enough to get to grips with as it follows the same style of play from the trilogy. Even with the recent remaster, I can still see the step up in some places.
The game had so much potential. A brand new galaxy, with new races, new threats, new worlds and so much more. I hoped it would be like stepping into the first game all over again.
But it wasn’t. There’s plenty of reports about budget cuts and troubled development, but other than two new races (three if you count the Remnant as a race, which I don’t), nothing really stood out. I explored and scanned and fought the antagonists, but it all felt very…samey.
I had a ship and a crew, I helped people on the way to stopping an alien threat. Sound familiar? Well, it is. It’s a standard plot, I accept, but so concerned were BioWare about starting something new and fresh, they threw away anything that might link back to the original games. Personally, with the fact that we brought most of the races from the Milky Way to Andromeda, this felt like a mistake.
A few ideas that could have helped
I’ve thought about this a lot over the years since my first playthrough of Andromeda. As I said before, it’s not a bad game but it could have been so much better!
These are just personal ideas, so you may like them or not – it doesn’t matter to me. They’d have worked better for me, though.
First, let’s not kid ourselves. The Milky Way arrivals are the aliens here. The invaders to Andromeda. While they may be the heroes to us, the player, it would have been an interesting flip to turn to a galaxy against us.
Put the player in hard decisions of finding supplies, maybe raiding them from those not willing to help. Diplomacy takes time – more than one or two campaign missions – and that means there’s a balance to strike. Do you go guns blazing to start a war to keep your people alive or risk starving or riots waiting for peace to work out?
Andromeda took away the Renegade and Paragon options for more diverse dialogue, but where are the effects? Let actions speak out here. Us seen as villains for most, if not all, of the game, paints a different light on the colonisation efforts.
A second option, given how Milky Way races are the most prevalent in the game, would be to bring the Protheans back.
Wait, what?
Yup, you heard me. We got a small taste of the Protheans in Mass Effect 3’s DLC (included in the Legendary Edition) with new party member Javik, and over the course of the trilogy we were shown how advanced the race was. If Humans, Asari, Salarians and co. could think about heading to Andromeda, why not the Protheans?
Better yet, let’s have them at their height. A ruling Empire. That would be a threat big enough itself, but how would they react to the next cycle arriving in Andromeda? We’ve seen how ruthless they could be, and it would be great to have the (sometimes revered) Protheans being the new big bad. It would allow us to explore the new races and set up their own futures for later games, while not cutting off ties and interest that stemmed from the original games. Hell, have the Remnant remain and under the control of the Protheans if need be. The bigger scope would allow it.
I’m not saying the Kett weren’t a good foe, either, if not fleshed out enough. Their approach of transforming captive aliens into their own kind is great, but where’s the backlash we face? Can we search for a cure? Do we need more stealth or non-lethal options while looking for one? If we kill a Kett from one race, why aren’t their (former) people even more angry. Why aren’t they causing trouble for us?
I just didn’t feel much for the Kett to really care about this twist, as cool as it could have been. Why are they doing this in the first place? Do they have no other choice?
Learning the lessons and aiming higher
All of this said and done, there are some good lessons to learn from Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Things shouldn’t be easy for our characters. This is what helps them grow, and we need that in a story or series. Unless there’s a good reason not to, bring that conflict to the forefront and let it ripple through the entire cast.
Don’t settle for the same old plots. There are a finite number of stories, sure, but the settings, characters and the writer’s own style and flair can change things up. Go with what works but take it to the next level or you’ll blur with countless other stories out there.
Let characters shine through their actions and interactions rather than telling us. Exposition is fine in small amounts in some situations. However, it’s more engaging to show things happening, show them doing and growing than telling us in most cases.
I hope that you’ll see these lessons – and more – in all my books, starting with the sci-fi series Weight of the World. Book one, Reality Check, launches on the 5th October 2021, so there’s not long to wait!
In the meantime, grab a copy of Introductions: Volume One by signing up to my newsletter (with the form below) to see what sets up the events of Reality Check – as well as other great science fiction and fantasy stories.