Why were the receptions of Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda so different from one another?

[iksenpets]

Inquisition was technically sound on release and is narratively very good, and a very large chunk of BioWare's biggest fans would muddle through almost anything gameplay-wise if they like the world and characters. Post-patches, their gameplay differences may be pretty minor compared to the differences in their reputations, but there's still a pretty big chasm between them in the stuff that really matters for these games.

 

[Quinton]

I know this doesn't help much "objectively," but here's my personal answer - because Dragon Age: Inquisition is very good and Mass Effect: Andromeda is not.

 

[Deleted member 5129]

Because one was broken at launch? What a question

I know this doesn't help much "objectively," but here's my personal answer - because Dragon Age: Inquisition is very good and Mass Effect: Andromeda is not.

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This too

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

I was thinking DA:I was really only criticized for its quest structure but otherwise was fine.

 

[CloseTalker]

Inquisition is a better game, and wasn't plagued by public and pervasive production issues leading up to release that put people on guard from day one.

Plus, Andromeda came out much later in the console's cycle, where expectations were higher. Inquisition was able to still benefit from that new console smell

 

[Starlatine]

the writing in inquisition is vastly better than andromeda. one single companion in inquisition had more character than every character of andromeda combined. thats kind of a ridiculous comparison. andromeda had a fun as hell combat and its not as bad as people paint, but if theres a flaw in it, its the writing, which inquisition had in spades while lacking in other areas

 

[Ralemont]

Inquisition's combat is also a little unfairly maligned imo. Yes for those who want the return to iso KB&M gameplay, I can understand disappointment. But as a party-based third person action game with strategic elements, it's actually very competent. The skill trees are very interesting especially after the Trespasser release added a secondary upgrade to every ability that drastically changes what it does. You can create some incredibly broken builds which is half the fun of any RPG combat. It's also much more responsive in the action department than either Origins or DA2; seriously Origins is extremely hard to go back to on console.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

They're both crap, IMO.

 

[NeverWas]

I always call Andromeda the Community s4 of the Mass Effect world. It looks like the thing you love, even hits a lot of the same notes, but something's off just enough to make it awful. I was also bored by the time I terraformed the third planet.

DA:I had a fair amount of bloat, but I genuinely enjoyed most of the writing/characters. I also liked the different zones in DA:I much more. Even though they hit all the "necessary" zone types, they never felt generic to me. Andromeda's planets were just kind of there, like some "alien environment 1" sort of check list.

 

[LossAversion]

Inquisition's combat is also a little unfairly maligned imo. Yes for those who want the return to iso KB&M gameplay, I can understand disappointment. But as a party-based third person action game with strategic elements, it's actually very competent. The skill trees are very interesting especially after the Trespasser release added a secondary upgrade to every ability that drastically changes what it does. You can create some incredibly broken builds which is half the fun of any RPG combat. It's also much more responsive in the action department than either Origins or DA2; seriously Origins is extremely hard to go back to on console.

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I've never understood the complaints about Inquisition's combat. It was a fantastic blend of the tactical combat from Origins and the more action-oriented combat of DAII. I had a fucking blast playing as a rogue.

 

[Digital Dinosaur]

For any problems it has, Inquisition makes a decent first impression before it eventually gets to its best parts.

Andromeda, from the very opening, feels like a patched together shell of a different game.

 

[Phellps]

I've never understood the complaints about Inquisition's combat. It was a fantastic blend of the tactical combat from Origins and the more action-oriented combat of DAII. I had a fucking blast playing as a rogue.

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Same, to be honest. Playing as a mage is incredible, there's so much you can do. And even the Warrior is a fun class as well.

It only gets better on harder difficulties when tactical combat and preparation becomes truly necessary.

 

[uncledonnie]

Having recently replayed it, Inquisition is just a far better game all around. The worst part of Inquisition is the bloat and most of that is easily bypassed.

Andromeda gets combat right and little else.

 

[Xeteh]

Same, to be honest. Playing as a mage is incredible, there's so much you can do. And even the Warrior is a fun class as well.

It only gets better on harder difficulties when tactical combat and preparation becomes truly necessary.

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Its so weird, everyone loves Mage in DAI and its the one class I can never get in to.

 

[ThisThingIsUseful]

Better writing, lower expectations due to dragon age 2, also it released just before everyone was fully sick of the open world crammed with collectathons trend.

One got to release before Witcher 3...

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yeah we had several years of games, including what was considered one of the best of the generation (Witcher), and the one that came out before Witcher, as you said, came out in a much slower year. Coming out in a big year like 2017 certainly didn't help Andromeda.

It could be a simple as another user stated, that most people just seriously thought and drama was not as good, but I think part of it could also be just timing and what you're comparing the games to.

 

[Lady Gaia]

Exactly this. The party and writing for Inquisition is worlds better than Andromeda.

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100% this. The cast of Andromeda seemed to think they were starring in a sit-com half the time, and none of them were particularly compelling characters. I've played through Inquisition four times now, and have enjoyed rediscovering the world, characters, and lore each and every time.

 

[WhoCaresLtsPlay]

Played both a couple years ago, and to me at that point Andromeda was the better game.
I think Inquisition benefited of being the continuation of the story while Andromeda didn't have that going for it.
But the open world of Andromeda is ok while in Inquisition I found it awful. I don't know whose idea it was of putting platforming-like collectibles in it but it was awful. If the game has a jump but it's that bad don't require players to use it to get to things.
Also there's plenty of things on the base in Inquisition that are obviously not finished. Like the corridor leading to the room where you select missions never being repaired and some other rooms that just stay with spiderwebs etc even after fully upgrading it.
I would be interested on a sequel to Andromeda (there's lots of things left unanswered) but Inquisition left me very cold on Dragon Age going forward. I would even go as far as saying I found Dragon Age 2 to be better than Inquisition

 

[TinTuba47]

I enjoyed Inquistion when it came out, but Andromeda didn't do anything for me. I tried to play it twice and could not get into it at all for whatever reason

 

[Rats]

Inquisition is a better game, for one.

 

[SofNascimento]

I think they are very different. Inquisition, at its core, is a good Bioware game, but Andromeda isn't. It's narrative, world buildings and characters are extremely weak and more distant from the quality of the original trilogy than Andromeda is far from the Milk Way. Moreover, Inquisition was quite polished at launch, Andromeda was the very opposite.

Inquisition was just an overall much better game.

 

[DarkFlame92]

Inquisition was a good game,had a great world ,combat and the story was good and was great at launch in comparison to Andromeda

 

[Rean]

people want and wait for dragon age 4
people dont want andromeda 2 in any way, shape or form

that says it all

 

[Elandyll]

Similar?

I guess you do you op, but DAI was my goty 2014, and I couldn't even bear to finish Andromeda due to sheer boredom.

 

[Legacy]

While the world of Inquisition was oftentimes empty and dull, the party members and character writing were generally strong, with continued plotlines for old favorites and new faces like Iron Bull and Solas winning large followings.

I honestly can't remember the name of any party member in Andromeda except for Peebee.

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Yep, couldn't agree more. Peebee and those Knuckles-lookalike aliens is all I remember from Andromeda (excluding the memes of course).

 

[ChuckXL]

As someone who likes Andromeda, it's because Andromeda was broken at launch and stayed that way for a very long time. Inquisition might not have been what everyone wanted, but it wasn't garbage at release.

 

[Coyote Starrk]

Because Dragon age was a good game. Not great, but at least good. Andromeda wasn't.


Seems like a really simple situation imo.

 

[Phellps]

Its so weird, everyone loves Mage in DAI and its the one class I can never get in to.

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Have you ever tried Fade Step, though? ;P

 

[Raigor]

Inquisition has Solas, Iron Bull and Cassandra.

Andromeda had....uhm...Peebe and....?!

 

[Starlatine]

people want and wait for dragon age 4
people dont want andromeda 2 in any way, shape or form

that says it all

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well i wanted the andromeda dlc with the arks that got cut

could be their Trespasser moment

 

[chrominance]

Agreed re: the characters and story. It also helps that Inquisition has some returning characters you already have attachments to, but even the new characters were very strong; I can't think of anyone in the main cast that people didn't like, except maybe Sera (for understandable reasons, though she and I got along fine).

Perhaps the biggest red flag about Andromeda for me should've been that every time a dialogue wheel came up, I didn't want to engage with it. I didn't want to go through all of the expository branches to learn more about the situation, like I did in every other Mass Effect game up to then. I didn't care about whatever new mission I was on that took me to some new world with new problems I couldn't get invested in. I was just kind of... done with all of it. I still don't know if that was Mass Effect/Bioware fatigue, or if the game was genuinely just not very good, but I really don't remember forming attachments to anyone in my crew, and found them all either bland or insufferable to some degree (Peebee, ugh).

 

[DealWithIt]

2014 was a very dry year for gaming so I think expectations were a little lower.

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^
Compare the years and you have your answer. If DAI came out in 2017 it would have been received much, much worse.

 

[Kupo Kupopo]

replaying inquisition right now, &, while i enjoyed andromeda enough, the game isn't even in inquistion's ballpark. as mentioned by others, the story, the characters, & the environments in inquisition leave andromeda in the dust...

inquisition, imo, is a seriously underrated gem (& still looks & plays great, btw)...

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

One was released before Witcher 3.

 

[Starlatine]

^
Compare the years and you have your answer. If DAI came out in 2017 it would have been received much, much worse.

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actually without making people salty because it won a GOTY i feel the game would be better received. Inquisition is a good game, warts and all. But winning that goty sure put some real big chips on some folks shoulders

 

[Captain Tuttle]

why?

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Exactly this, Andromeda was memed to death.

That's not forgiving those awkward scenes. Hell, I played the game through earlier this year again and not all of them are fixed. They basically gave up on it and that's a shame because I enjoyed Andromeda

 

[Hrodulf]

Inquisition wasn't a gigantic mess when it comes to writing, bugs, graphics and animation compared to Andromeda (and I don't even think DAI had great animations among other things).

Also, people can say whatever they want, but Witcher 3 was pretty awful when it came to open world game design, and was mostly carried by its graphics and some of its writing.

 

[Keldroc]

Inquisition is a well written game with a great cast and tons of good characters interactions and advancing storylines. But its a boring game to play.

Andromeda was dull to horrible on every aspect but gameplay. Andromeda is a total and complete narrative failure. They are polar opposites basically.

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This sums it up. Cast and characters can save a Bioware game in a way gameplay cannot, because people are coming to these games for narrative and character engagement. I am a huge Mass Effect fan and barely tolerate Dragon Age, but I can tell you tons of character stories and narrative situations from Inquisition, while I can't even remember the name of my crew from Andromeda. Andromeda is easily the worst-written thing Bioware has ever put out.

 

[Ralemont]

Agreed re: the characters and story. It also helps that Inquisition has some returning characters you already have attachments to, but even the new characters were very strong; I can't think of anyone in the main cast that people didn't like, except maybe Sera (for understandable reasons, though she and I got along fine).

Perhaps the biggest red flag about Andromeda for me should've been that every time a dialogue wheel came up, I didn't want to engage with it. I didn't want to go through all of the expository branches to learn more about the situation, like I did in every other Mass Effect game up to then. I didn't care about whatever new mission I was on that took me to some new world with new problems I couldn't get invested in. I was just kind of... done with all of it. I still don't know if that was Mass Effect/Bioware fatigue, or if the game was genuinely just not very good, but I really don't remember forming attachments to anyone in my crew, and found them all either bland or insufferable to some degree (Peebee, ugh).

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The dialogue wheel was definitely an issue in MEA, and part of a larger issue which is that I don't really feel like people had any connection or ownership over Ryder. There were no interesting ways to develop their character through dialogue, and all of the choices in the story are largely inconsequential and almost designed to not cause any consequences. Additionally, the character creator was horrible.

Compared to DAI, people get VERY attached to some of the Inquisitors they make. This is due to much more interesting dialogue choices, more meaningful development of your party re: their relationship with the Inky and more meaningful choices within the story that your party and the world can react to more harshly. All of this feels like there's a tale being told specific to this Inquisitor that feels engaging, something which the original ME Trilogy also had (albeit, in a more limited sense) and which MEA lacks almost completely.

That is all to say that in addition to DAI's story and characters simply being better in their own right, DAI is also a far superior role-playing game.

 

[DealWithIt]

actually without making people salty because it won a GOTY i feel the game would be better received. Inquisition is a good game, warts and all. But winning that goty sure put some real big chips on some folks shoulders

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I liked DAI pretty well. Played the hell out of it after getting a PS4. There's a lot to be said for the writing, but I don't think the gameplay holds up at all. Games like the Witcher 3 and HZD revealed a lot of the weaknesses of DAI.

 

[Starlatine]

I liked DAI pretty well. Played the hell out of it after getting a PS4. There's a lot to be said for the writing, but I don't think the gameplay holds up at all. Games like the Witcher 3 and HZD revealed a lot of the weaknesses of DAI.

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Weird cause people also bash the gameplay of Witcher 3 a lot
And comparing the writing in HZD with DAI is laughable.

 

[Yiepekaiyei]

C'mon man, Andromeda don't hold a candle to DAI. It's not even in the same league. The writing alone is much, much superior.

 

[Deleted member 4090]

I guess this is a good place to ask. I really enjoyed DAI and played it on the highest difficulty at launch and got the platinum, and felt the entire experience played well and was overall pretty balanced. I got the PC version and all of the DLC a bit later, tried some of the additional challenge options, and kind of faded and never even got to the DLC. Are there challenge/difficulty settings that people think make the game more interesting without making it a much slower experience?

 

[-Tetsuo-]

I dunno they both ass

 

[Starlatine]

I guess this is a good place to ask. I really enjoyed DAI and played it on the highest difficulty at launch and got the platinum, and felt the entire experience played well and was overall pretty balanced. I got the PC version and all of the DLC a bit later, tried some of the additional challenge options, and kind of faded and never even got to the DLC. Are there challenge/difficulty settings that people think make the game more interesting without making it a much slower experience?

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The one that makes the bears strong is funny
Other than that, i feel like self imposed challenges are better than the ones you can toggle in the options. Like, use only stuff you can find instead of crafting, try playing with a npc instead of your inquisitor, etcetera. Do get to the DLC though cause its amazing

 

[Nooblet]

Inquisition came out early in the gen in a year that basically had nothing. It also did not have meme worthy animation issues or other issues. It was just a flat out non offensive product in every way. And it didn't feel unfinished.

I really disliked the game's MMO like structure so despite giving the game 5 tries I never got far.

Andromeda also had higher expectations to live up to since Mass Effect was the more popular and more criticall acclaimed series. And Andromeda was "the next chapter". Meanwhile Inquisition came off Dragon Age 2.

 

[Deleted member 4090]

The one that makes the bears strong is funny
Other than that, i feel like self imposed challenges are better than the ones you can toggle in the options. Like, use only stuff you can find instead of crafting, try playing with a npc instead of your inquisitor, etcetera. Do get to the DLC though cause its amazing

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Yeah, I know Trespasser is regarded as one of the great pieces of story DLC and that the other two are both well liked at least. The game definitely has enough changes to justify two playthroughs.

 

[Fadewise]

The narrative that Inquisition was a bad game is ridiculous. There are legitimate criticisms to be had about it sure, but the ire it seems to draw in retrospect just seems to have been manufactured out of whole cloth for reasons I can't quite comprehend.

 

[DealWithIt]

Weird cause people also bash the gameplay of Witcher 3 a lot
And comparing the writing in HZD with DAI is laughable.

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W3 and HZD both have way better gameplay than DAI in my book.

I do not buy the idea that DAI would be better received in 2018 than 2014. The only reason it was even in the GoTY conversations was because 2014 was a thin year for releases, the big two are DAI and Shadow of Mordor. If DAI had come out even one year later it would have been seen for what it is. A Solid "B" of a game. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm saying the timeline explains Andromeda's disparate reception.

 

[Starlatine]

W3 and HZD both have way better gameplay than DAI in my book.

I do not buy the idea that DAI would be better received in 2018 than 2014. The only reason it was even in the GoTY conversations was because 2014 was a thin year for releases, the big two are DAI and Shadow of Mordor. If DAI had come out even one year later it would have been seen for what it is. A Solid "B" of a game. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm saying the timeline explains Andromeda's disparate reception.

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I'm not saying it would win GOTYs any other year either. I'm just saying that it winning gotys, "poor year" or not, poisoned a lot of discourse about it.

 

[disparate]

DAI had to release on 5 platforms including ones with 256MB X 2 of RAM. Comparing it to W3 and HZD is IMO kinda asinine, and even then it's much better than HZD and is comparable to W3 in being worse in some ways but better in others.