History Analysis / MassEffectAndromeda

And so, a lot of fictional universes where superluminal space travel is present, try to present to you that same sense of wonder, of curiosity, of an excitement in exploring previously unseen places. ''Franchise/StarTrek'' ]achieved that with their slogan being about "boldly going where no one has gone before", ''VideoGame/X'' and other {{4X}} games did that too. And for all appearances, a game called ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' seemed poised to do that, what with the titular mass effect being the engine that drove superluminal propulsion, and the opening screen explaining how humans discovered this technology.

This game, in other words, was the exploratory entry point thus franchise never got.

! The Problem with the ''Andromeda Initiative'' in VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda (WARNING: Unmarked Spoilers) (Work In Progress)
->''"I'm convince that the Andromeda Initiative was created to banish ''stupid people'' from the Milky Way."''
-->-- '''WebVideo/GameCareNetwork''', in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9yt83Oak0Q their video]] on '''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'''

''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' has a fairly simple, straightforward premise: In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe, people from the various races of the Milky-Way Galaxy join the ''Andromeda Initiative'' to make a one-way, centuries-long expedition to the Andromeda Galaxy to explore & settle new worlds, but when they arrive they run into a multitude of problems, which the player must solve. At face value, there is nothing inherently wrong with this premise. But after playing the game as well as the [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 Original]] ''[[VideoGame/MassEffect2 ME]]'' [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 Trilogy]], this premise [[FridgeLogic really doesn't make much sense when you stop and think about it]].

For starters, one thing has to be brought up. As anyone with a passing knowledge of Astronomy would tell you: Space is '''''MASSIVE'''''. Incomprehensibly ''Massive.'' It is something that everyone has difficulty trying to wrap their heads around, and [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale Science-Fiction Writers are no exception]]. Space is so massive that it takes light, the fastest known ''thing'' in the universe, years to travel between the vast majority of stars (hence the term ''Light-Year'' when describing Astronomical Distance). And this becomes more pronounced when a galaxy, such as our own, contains hundreds of millions of stars and is tens-of-thousands of lightyears across.

! The Problem with the ''Andromeda Initiative'' in VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda (WARNING: Unmarked Spoilers)

As anyone with a passing knowledge of Astronomy would tell you: Space is '''''MASSIVE'''''. Incomprehensibly ''Massive.'' It is something that everyone has difficulty trying to wrap their heads around, and [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale Science-Fiction Writers are no exception]]. Space is so massive that it takes light, the fastest known

As anyone with a passing knowledge of Astronomy would tell you: Space is '''''MASSIVE'''''. Incomprehensibly ''Massive.'' It is something that everyone has difficulty trying to wrap their heads around, and [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale Science-Fiction Writers are no exception]].

-->-- '''WebVideo/GameCareNetwork''', in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9yt83Oak0Q their video]] on '''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'''

This game, in other words, was the exploratory entry point thus franchise never got.

And so, a lot of fictional universes where superluminal space travel is present, try to present to you that same sense of wonder, of curiosity, of an excitement in exploring previously unseen places. Franchise/StarTrek achieved that with their slogan being about "boldly going where no one has gone before", the Franchise/XUniverse and other {{4X}} games did that too. And for all appearances, a game called VideoGame/MassEffect seemed poised to do that, what with the titular mass effect being the engine that drove superluminal propulsion, and the opening screen explaining how humans discovered this technology.

And then - the game turns into a political-military thriller set in space. You don't go to Eden Prime because it is an unexplored newly discovered planet, you are going there to pick up something found at an archeological dig site in an already established well known human colony. And from there on, the story becomes about an elite covert operative who turned against his masters, and you chasing him all over to bring him down. You don't fly off to other clusters because you are curious about what's there, you go there because something you found while scouring places for clues on your fugitive, sent you there on a strike op. Or a navy admiral sent you there on a commando mission. Yes, you are given fetch quests to survey minerals, locate ancient artifacts etc, but these are seen as distractions. Exploration, curiosity and wonder takes back seat here. Alien life does exist, but everything about them is already known and codified in codices, and the aliens as a whole seem unimpressed to annoyed with us. It is as if ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' wasn't about James Kirk the explorer/diplomat exploring space, it was instead about James Kirk the [[StateSec Section 31 Agent]] hunting another rogue agent. That was what became of the first Mass Effect game.

That is in essence what Bioware has created here, with this game. Here, you aren't some covert agent like James Bond; here you can be like James Kirk. Your mandate here is to be that explorer looking for interesting planets, that diplomat encountering a new species and learning to deal with them. In the first Mass Effect, you were meant to be feared as a Spectre, over here you are meant to be an inspirer. In the first game, you landed somewhere to engage in combat, with exploration being an annoyance. Here, exploration and discovery is your primary goal, with combat often becoming an annoyance. In the first game, the antagonist had an imposing menacing look to him, in this game, the antagonist looks clownish and can't be taken seriously as a villain. That's reinforcing the fact that your primary goal isn't to defeat this enemy - your primary goal is to find a way to make this sector more habitable for life. In fact, had you taken the Kett completely out of this story, replacing them with exiles and Roekarr, you still would have had a compelling exploration story about activating vaults, finding more vaults, finding Meridian and finally activating it. And uncovering information about the Angaara and the Scourge along the way. Now imagine if this already established exploratory mission had you getting introduced to mass effect technology, to biotics, to omnitools, to VI and AI distinction, all for the first time!!

->''"It's funny. We finally get out here and the final frontier was already settled. And most of them don't even feel impressed by the view!!"''
-->-- '''Kaidan Alenko''', VideoGame/MassEffect

!Mass Effect Andromeda is what Mass Effect 1 tried to be, before getting sidetracked by the plot

And then - the game turns into a political-military thriller set in space. You don't go to Eden Prime because it is an unexplored newly discovered planet, you are going there to pick up something found at an archeological dig site in an already established well known human colony. And from there on, the story becomes about an elite covert operative who turned against his masters, and you chasing him all over to bring him down. You don't fly off to other clusters because you are curious about what's there, you go there because something you found while scouring places for clues on your fugitive, sent you there on a strike op. Or a navy admiral sent you there on a commando mission. Yes, you are given fetch quests to survey minerals, locate ancient artifacts etc, but these are seen as distractions. Exploration, curiosity and wonder takes back seat here. Alien life does exist, but everything about them is already known and codified in codices, and the aliens as a whole seem unimpressed to annoyed with us. It is as if Series/StarTrekTOS wasn't about James Kirk the explorer/diplomat exploring space, it was instead about James Kirk the [[StateSec Section 31 Agent]] hunting another rogue agent. That was what became of the first Mass Effect game.

-->''"It's funny. We finally get out here and the final frontier was already settled. And most of them don't even feel impressed by the view!!"''
-->'''Kaidan Alenko''', VideoGame/MassEffect

!Mass Effect Andromeda is what Mass Effect 1 tried to be, before getting sidetracked by the plot