One of my most universally derided hot takes is that Mass Effect Andromeda was great, actually. A lot of the criticisms levelled against it at the time were valid, and it definitely shouldn’t have launched in the buggy state it did. But Andromeda’s one of those games where you could almost feel the backlash before it even released: and sure enough, it got mostly middling reviews (though PCG gave it a healthy 80%), and an absolute savaging from elements of the audience.
But I loved it, and the whole setup of being space pioneers trying to establish a foothold for humanity in an unknown corner of the cosmos just worked for me. It quickly became clear, however, that Andromeda was not going to kick off its own Mass Effect trilogy, or even get its mooted singleplayer DLC before Bioware ended support for the title.
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“Personally, I was bummed, but moved on quickly,” says Taylorson. “You have to. You’re only as good as your last project or audition. So you go out and audition again. Personally/ artistically? It hurt most because I knew that was it—Ryder wouldn’t be coming back. I, and others, thought we’d have a good decade of playing with these characters in these spaces. And just like that—gone.”
Bioware is now working on its fifth Mass Effect game, and though it’s not a direct sequel to Andromeda there are hints that it will incorporate elements of it as the studio tries to reboot one of its flagship series.
Taylorson adds that he “felt terrible” for the developers at Bioware Montreal, and “that hate” directed at them, but says that as the years have passed he’s felt a lot more audience affection for Andromeda than it got at release.
“Over time though, I’ve seen a lot of love for the game and its characters, for what it did well, and appreciation from fans for whom it was their game of the moment,” says Taylorson. “A game that helped them, a game that got them through a tough time. There is something to be said for a 7/10 that comes to you in a time of need.”
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