In an interview with PC Gamer Magazine, Bioware’s Fabrice Condominas said that they’re taking a different approach to sidequests in Andromeda, following The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
“We are approaching the completionist aspect very differently, because we’ve done and learned a lot from [Dragon Age:] Inquisition,” said Condominas. “But we’ve also observed what other games have been doing, like The Witcher.”
The Mass Effect series has been known for it’s rich world with varied and likable characters, but aspects of the game can feel like busywork. Its sidequests, especially when compared to The Witcher series by CD Projekt Red, did not compare. In The Witcher, every sidequest had a layer of moral ambiguity, and would make you sit and question your decisions. More often than not, the decision that you made based on either prejudices, or what you believed from other characters in-game, turned out to be wrong. What’s worse is that there are consequences to who you let live, and who you let die.
The sidequests in The Witcher were so gripping that they usurped the entire stories of other games. It’s also why many gamers would spend over a hundred hours hunting down every single quest to squeeze out every ounce of narrative.
Condominas also pointed out that sidequests themselves do not need to have a major tie-in to the overall narrative to be meaningful or impactful. It’s something that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt pulled off particularly well.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is set to launch March 21, 2017 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. The full interview with Condominas can be found in the March issue of PC Gamer Magazine.
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