Mass Effect: Andromeda’s New Decision Making System

Looking forward to Mass Effect: Andromeda? Well here is one familiar mechanic that you won’t find in the game. Mass Effect’s Renegade/ Paragon system is no more. As you made decisions within the original trilogy you would at times receive Renegade and Paragon dialogue, color coded by a red and blue font. These decisions would have an impact on your characters overall good or bad morality.

However, in a recent interview with the Official Xbox Magazine, Mass Effect: Andromeda Creative Director Mac Walters explained why Bioware had done away with the system. Walters argued two main reasons for the change. The first being that the Renegade/ Paragon system seemed too closely associated with the previous trilogies protagonist, Commander Shephard. Stating that with a new protagonist they wanted to differentiate them. And secondly believing that too many players seemed to blindly follow the decisions of a single morality. Rather than actually making well thought through decisions.

Bioware has therefore decided to take up a more subtle approach for their next title. Deciding to instead opt for a disagreement/ agreement system. Where the player can choose to disagree or agree with another character in 4 different tones. Stating that they want the player to think about how their character feels in the immediate situation rather than making a rudimentary decision over whether they are good or bad. We’ve seen many games take a similar approach to storytelling in recent years. Horizon: Zero Dawn is utilizing the idea of decisions based on emotion, such as by having the choice between a hardened aggressive approach and a wise thoughtful approach.

Mass Effect: Andromeda is scheduled to release in spring of 2017 for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC. It has been 5 years since the last entry in the series was released and many gamers are eagerly awaiting the moment they can get their hands on this new chapter. For everything on Mass Effect: Andromeda, it’s dialogue options and its weapon crafting, stay tuned to The Nerd Stash.