History YMMV / Anthem2019

* HarsherInHindsight: The fact that the game is about a world that was abandoned by its creator deities before it was finished became this after the game came out and it became clear that the release version of the game was an ObviousBeta.

** The fact that weapons cannot be changed in the field. If you want to equip a new weapon, you need to exit the activity, return to Fort Tarsis, go to the Forge, equip the new weapon, and then exit the Forge. The process is clunky, and requires [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading about four different loading screens to accomplish]].

** The crafting system has been a great source of criticism. Once you reach max level, you have the ability to craft masterwork quality gear. However, crafting a masterwork item requires 25 masterwork embers, which requires countless hours of grinding to either obtain the embers or enough credits to buy the embers directly with in-game currency. And even after you craft an item, the fact that ''every'' property of the item is randomly determined means there's a very high chance that the item you invested so much time and resources into crafting ends up getting a bad roll and being useless.
*** This one has been alleviated somewhat. See AuthorsSavingThrow above.

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with the absence of PvP. From the get-go, [=BioWare=] and EA have confirmed the game will not have competitive multiplayer at launch or in immediate post-launch content. Normally this announcement would elicit outrage, but many fans are actually glad that there isn't competitive multiplayer: the game can instead focus more on story and endgame content, which was a major problem for ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' and ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}''. (Additionally, multiplayer is not really why anyone comes to a [=BioWare=] game; when ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' was announced with CoOpMultiplayer, the announcement was greeted with [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks skepticism]].) It helps that the game was never advertised with such a mode, making the developers come off as honest instead of misleading.

* ObviousBeta: Between the threadbare content on launch and the significant technical issues, it's very clear that this game was very far from finished when it was released.

** The first few images and revelations of ''Anthem'' made on 2018's E3 really soured possible fans to it. The reveal that there would be no companions or romance in this game -- two things [[CreatorThumbprint that have been a staple for BioWare]] and one of the fans' favorite mechanics -- resulted in fans deciding that BioWare has lost contact with them and don't know what they want anymore, while gameplay footage caused the game to be accused of being a ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' knock-off.

** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] with the absence of PvP. From the get-go, Bioware and EA have confirmed the game will not have competitive multiplayer at launch or in immediate post-launch content. Normally this announcement would elicit outrage, but many fans are actually glad that there isn't competitive multiplayer: the game can instead focus more on story and endgame content, which was a major problem for ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' and ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}''. (Additionally, multiplayer is not really why anyone comes to a Bioware game; when ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' was announced with CoOpMultiplayer, the announcement was greeted with [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks skepticism]].) It helps that the game was never advertised with such a mode, making the developers come off as honest instead of misleading.
* ThatOneLevel: The "Tombs of the Legionnaires" quest in particular has been picking up heavy criticism. Rather than following a traditional mission structure, the Tomb quest is instead a set of achievements the player must complete in the Free Play mode in order to unlock four tombs and progress the story. While most of the achievements are easy to complete, there are a few that are incredibly difficult or time-consuming. For example, some of the objective require you to kill a legendary enemy or open a chest, except credit only goes to the person who scores the killing shot or actually physically opens the chest. Another objective is to find 10 secret collectibles hidden throughout the game world. Suffice to say, many players were angry at the level of grind needed to complete a '''required story mission''', which brought the pacing of the entire campaign to a screeching halt. Bioware quickly changed the quest so you can passively fill the requirements at the start of the game.

** The 2018 Game Awards trailer showcased the world of Anthem, personal stakes, and the main villain's motivation and goals. For many fans, the trailer's emphasis on story is a reassurance that Bioware hasn't forgotten its roots.

** For a brief period, Bioware accidentally changed the drop rates of chests so that they would drop masterwork gear more often than usual. While the bug was fixed within 24 hours, it didn't stop masses of players farming chests while the bug was still live.

** Once again, Bioware accidentally introduced another bug that greatly increased the drop rate of masterwork items from loot drops, giving many players a sudden rush of satisfaction until Bioware swiftly fixed the bug.
** Bioware again accidentally introduced another bug in one of their patches that tied the damage abilities and ultimates dealt to the player's average gear score. Players quickly found out that they could easily manipulate their average gear score by taking off their lowest rated gear, inflating their average gear score and thus inflating the damage they dealt. The issue was that the scaling didn't count empty slots towards the average, so rather than taking the 75, adding ten 0 values to it and then dividing by 11, the game just divided the 75 by 1, giving the player an average gears core of 75.

** Furthered in 2018's E3, in which quite a few revelations about the game were made. The fact that the game will not have any companions or romance was particularly badly received considering the fanbase Bioware collected over the years has grown attached to the characters the studio creates and the many romantic sidequests. The many, ''many'' similarities in story and gameplay to ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' also caused some people to complain about the game's lack of originality. The focus on multiplayer also made some people accuse EA and Bioware of being completely out of touch with their own market, due to a general desire of players at the time for single-player, story-driven games.

** There's been quite a bit of online backlash over the banning of Gladd, a notable Twitch streamer. According to Gladd, he was banned by Bioware for manipulating the economy of the game by taking advantage of a bug where chests dropped masterwork gear more often than usual and streaming it online. Fans were quick to point out the holes in Bioware's logic of why they would go out of their way to ban a player who was just opening chests for an extended period of time, and why they would protect a loot economy that's not [=PvP=] or trade focused. Finally, Gladd was one of the few streamers who was dedicated to consistently streaming ''Anthem'' and cheerleading for the game, something that (everyone can agree) the game sorely needs.
*** Bioware later issued a clarification that Gladd was banned for streaming a known exploit that involved getting an infinite ultimate on the Storm Javelin. However, that reasoning is still baffling since Gladd actually reported the issue to Bioware and didn't actually materially benefit from using the exploit on stream. Additionally, Bioware's justification that Gladd using the exploit was supposedly "having a negative impact on other players" was treated with open derision by everyone because of the fact that ''Anthem'' is an entirely [=PvE=]-focused game, so any possible impact use of the exploit could have on other players could only be, if anything, ''positive.''. All around it's still considered a poor PR move on Bioware's part.

** In early-mid March of 2019, [=BioWare=] released a patch that accidentally caused Loot Drops to become much more generous, and then reverted them back shortly after. This was the second time that this has happened, and Players were not happy. Many were greatly enjoying the more generous drops and repeatedly asked BioWare to not "fix" the changes back to what they were, and when they did, began demanding that they then "unfix" them. What makes this particularly frustrating for players is that this is a [[HistoryRepeats lesson that many other loot-based games have already learned.]] Most notably, ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''.

* {{Misblamed}}: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] when it comes to publisher Electronic Arts. Many fans are quick to blame EA for everything wrong with ''Anthem'', given how the publisher was widely hated for its divisive monetization schemes. However, the issue is a bit more complex according to the the aforementioned Kotaku report. EA did mandate the use of Frostbite engine, which wasn't meant to work for [=RPGs=], and didn't provide much technical support. However, EA also provided 6 years of development time, which is more than double that of industry standards, and it was Bioware that was responsible for the poor management and bad creative decisions like the employee burnout and lack of content. Most importantly, it was Bioware, not EA, who wanted the game to be an online multiplayer and not a single player [=RPG=]. In short, while EA didn't give the right tools for Bioware, many of the bad decisions rested almost entirely on Bioware's shoulders.

* SoOkayItsAverage: The game received mainly lukewarm to middling reviews after release, with many critics noting that on a whole, the game is solid and competently put together, but they also felt that it lacked the charm of Bioware's storytelling, and that the gameplay doesn't feel unique or polished enough to differentiate itself from its competitors within the genre, such as the ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' series. The overall scores were so mediocre that ''Anthem'' has become [[https://www.vg247.com/2019/03/04/anthem-lowest-rated-bioware-game-ever/ Bioware's lowest-rated game ever]].

** The first few images and revelations of ''Anthem'' made on 2018's E3 really soured possible fans to it. The reveal that there would be no companions or romance in this game -- two things [[CreatorThumbprint that have been a staple for Bioware]] and one of the fans' favorite mechanics -- resulted in fans deciding that Bioware has lost contact with them and don't know what they want anymore, while gameplay footage caused the game to be accused of being a ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' knock-off.
** Unfortunately, any hype for the game has been hampered due to the performance of past Bioware and EA games. For example, the SoAverageItsOkay but fairly disappointing ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' tarnished the Bioware brand name in the eyes of many fans, even though the game was technically developed by their less-competent Montreal branch (and its WideOpenSandbox and fluid character movement were the spiritual predecessors to this game). Additionally, the lootbox debacle over ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'' has led many fans to cynically predict EA will find a way to ruin ''Anthem'' with lootboxes and microtransactions.

** "We want to make the game [[DeifiedTrope unmemeable]]." [[labelnote:Explanation]]One of Bioware's apparent mandates in developing the game was to make it so it couldn't be memeable, especially with the facial expressions, for which Bioware's previous release, ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', was heavily guilty of. Unfortunately, it would seem that Bioware forgot the rule that the more you don't want something to become a meme, the more likely it will become a meme. Then upon ''Anthem''[='=]s release, let's just say things didn't go according to Bioware's wishes.[[/labelnote]]

** Adding to the above, the fact that Items are only available in the Store for 3 days, changing every Tuesday and Friday. If you don’t have a shitload of Coins saved up, [[MoneyDearBoy be prepared to cough up some cash for those Shards]], as the pathetic Coin rewards ensure that whatever items you’re grinding for will be long gone by the time you can pay for even a fraction of their costs with Coins.

** Quite a few people have expressed their amusement at the fact that the main villain of the game is named The ''Monitor''.

* ObviousBeta: Between the threadbare content on launch and the signifigant technical issues, it's very clear that this game was very far from finished when it was released.

* OvershadowedByControversy: It seems that the game's disastrous launch between its bugs and frustrating loot system will have be more remembered for that than anything else. And then adding fuel to the fire, the Kotaku article on game's TroubledProduction isn't helping matters either.

* {{Misblamed}}: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] when it comes to publisher Electronic Arts. Many fans are quick to blame EA for everything wrong with ''Anthem'', especially given the publisher's divisive monetization schemes. However, the issue is a bit more complex according to Jason Schreier's insider report. EA did mandate the use of Frostbite engine, which wasn't meant to work for [=RPGs=], and didn't provide much technical support. However, EA also provided 6 years of development time, which is more than double that of industry standards, and it was Bioware's leadership that was responsible for many of game's development woes like the lack of a defined genre and the decision to turn the game into a ''Destiny'' clone. Most importantly, it was Bioware's head management, not EA, who wanted the game to be online from the get-go. In short, while EA didn't give the right tools for Bioware, many of the bad decisions rested almost entirely on Bioware's shoulders.

* ObviousBeta: Between the threadbare content on launch and the signifigant technical issues, it's very clear that this game was very far from finished when it was released

* UnderusedMechanic: Flying. For something that was presented as a major feature, it's really not much more than a glorified sprint button. No levels have any kind of flying challenges or puzzles, and the game never really subjects the player to any kind of test of skill. This likely has to do with the fact that flying was actually taken out of the game and added back in multiple times over the course of the game's development. This, combined with the game's TroubledProduction, meant that the developers didn't really have time to design levels that would use flying in a creative way.

* UndersuedMechanic: Flying. For something that was presented as a major feature, it's really not much more than a glorified sprint button. No levels have any kind of flying challenges or puzzles, and the game never really subjects the player to any kind of test of skill. This likely has to do with the fact that flying was actually taken out of the game and added back in multiple times over the course of the game's development. This, combined with the game's TroubledProduction, meant that the developers didn't really have time to design levels that would use flying in a creative way.

** The Anthem of Creation itself counts as a wasted plot element. In his angry review, [[WebVideo/TheAngryJoeShow Angry Joe]] pointed out how the device could've been used to offer interesting gameplay scenarios like warping reality, reversing gravity, or even opening up new dimensions, with its ''actual'' implementation ([[spoiler:it just spawns more enemies]]) being relatively mundane in comparison.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The Gameplay footage shown in the reveal looks absolutely ''stunning.'' Unfortunatly, [[NeverTrustATrailer it was also fake,]] and there's been complaints that the real game looks nowhere near as good.

* {{Misblamed}}: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] when it comes to publisher Electronic Arts. Many fans quickly blame EA for everything wrong with ''Anthem'', especially given the publisher's divisive monetization schemes. However, the issue is a bit more complex according to Jason Schreier's insider report. EA did mandate the use of Frostbite engine, which wasn't meant to work for [=RPGs=], and didn't provide as much technical support. However, EA did provide 6 years of development time, which is more than double that of industry standards, and it was Bioware's leadership that was responsible for many of game's decision like the lack of defined genre and the decision to turn the game into a ''Destiny'' clone. Most importantly, Bioware's head management, not EA, who wanted the game to be online from the get-go. In short, while EA didn't give the right tools for Bioware, many of the bad decisions rested almost entirely on Bioware's shoulders.

* {{Misblamed}}: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] when it comes to publisher Electronic Arts. Many fans quickly blame EA for everything wrong with ''Anthem'', especially given the publisher's divisive monetization schemes. However, the issue is a bit more complex according to Jason Schreier's insider report. EA did mandate the use of Frostbite engine and didn't provide as much technical support to the Anthem team with many of the Frostbite's key developers working on the more lucrative sports games. On the flip-side, EA did give Bioware over 6 years of development time, which is more than double that of typical industry standards, and it was Bioware's leadership that was responsible for many of game's problems like the lack of vision, burnout of developers, and the decision to turn the game into a ''Destiny'' clone. In short, while EA didn't give the right tools for Bioware, many of the bad decisions rested almost entirely on Bioware's shoulders.

** After Jason Schreier published [[https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964 an article about the game's development]] in April of 2019, [=BioWare=], after declining the chance to comment within the article itself, responded with a blog post less than ten minutes after the article was published. Considering that Jason's article is eleven thousand words long, it's highly unlikely that anyone would have been able to read the post and type up a response in that amount of time. The blog post itself was not received very well, with [=BioWare=] coming across as overly defensive and dismissive to many. The overall reaction was that the post made [=BioWare=] seem tone deaf at best, and stubbornly refusing to listen to criticism at worst.

--> '''Random [=YouTube=] Commenter:''' The monitor fits perfectly as the main villain of Anthem. You're basically forced to watch it during [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading every load screen]]. Menacing.

* {{Narm}}: Quite a few people have expressed their amusement at the fact that the main villain of the game is named The ''Monitor''.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The Gameplay footage shown in the reveal looks absolutely ''stunning,'' to the point that many people were anticipating a graphical downgrade of some kind before the game came out.

** While the jury is still out on if the game will be any good or not, many fans are pleased with the amount of open communication between the developers and fans on the official ''Anthem'' subreddit, especially after Creator/{{Bungie}}'s famous (and much maligned) silence and lack of transparency with ''Destiny 2.''