Hey everybody reading, small side note before getting back into it today. I recently watched a great video regarding Andromeda's production cycle that I think is more than worth a look for anybody interested. It helps give a lot of context to a lot of the issues and even successes of Andromeda. It's linked just below for anyone curious, I may even go into detail regarding my own thoughts on it in my Retrospective of the game over on our YouTube channel (also linked below).
Mass Effect: Andromeda... 1 Year Later
Retrospective - Andromeda
The More You Know
So, if you noticed in my last post, I made no mention of the Archon. That's because he's no longer the major antagonist of the narrative. The Khett remain a threat and sub faction but function more like a horde of jobbers (see "losers" in dictionary) that can overwhelm in large numbers and devastate any large groups by infecting populations via either the scourge or serious exposure to Khett forces. The true antagonist starts to become apparent once your father goes missing and foul play is suspected even more so once we arrive at...
The Nexus - Fool's Errand
I haven't had a chance to dive into the prequel novel to Andromeda, "Nexus Uprising," but thanks to helpful message boards and some decent summary work by the game I have a pretty good understanding of the events. And knowing these events, I don't see why they shouldn't be part of the game proper. Supplementary material can help support your fictional universe and spread word along different mediums but consider that it can also complicate your world building and make an interactive medium like video games suffer from a lack of first hand agency and involvement with important events.
Andromeda doesn't suffer too much from this story's absence but that's largely because the script doesn't demand anything from it. Nothing about the uprising is useful to stopping the Khett, the Archon, or understanding Remnant tech. Which is a shame because the subplot regarding Jien Garson, Alec Ryder, and the Benefactor is the more interesting plot at hand. Hence why in this rewrite, it has the bigger focus; it represents so much of what made the original series so great. Intrigue, mystery, sympathetic characters with sympathetic motives.
And so, as Ryder arrives on the Nexus, we paint a scene familiar to Mass Effect 1 and coming onto the citadel. Tensions are high and morale is low on the Nexus with Jien Garson still alive and trying to keep everything together. We get caught up on how desperate things are as we are still the only pathfinder and ark accounted for. Jien Garson calls upon you and several others to manage the crisis with whispers of dissent within several side characters and side quests that reveal the general mood.
The Pathfinder's goal here being to reassure the public that success is on the horizon. Pathfinders are meant to be those who navigate hostile environments and find suitable homes. Their discoveries make life possible by understanding various ecosystems and culture through the choices they make.
Insert role play for what type of Pathfinder your Ryder is and what kind of speech they give. Your intentions here may give future factions (most of which are still on the Nexus at this point and so will know who you are) an impression to think on.
Unfortunately, the arrival of the human ark sparks more controversy when it's time to decide where the new resources go. The Krogan and soon to be exiles break into a firefight with most of the Initiative caught in the middle.
Cut to some firefights on the Nexus where Ryder, Liam, and Cora are fighting for their lives while making their way to the director requesting assistance from an attacker. We get mini objectives along the way and some choices to make. Andromeda doesn't have as many choices as the original series and taken into consideration that there's no longer a paragon/renegade system, it feels like we missed out on some interesting ways for players to think out their decisions. A small but important choice here could present Ryder with the choice to split up the squad to focus priorities.
Ryder can choose to have Liam and/or Cora attend to certain tasks:
1. Civilian Escort
2. Secure Station Critical Systems
3. Or Ryder can have one or both along to find the director.
There would be consequences to Ryder's actions and who attends to what task should effect how well it is done. And obviously having more people along for one task makes it more successful. Regardless, Ryder will meet Vetra along the way to the director. If Ryder has a full party, Vetra will shadow the party and be able to sneak more intel on who is attacking the director. Otherwise, if Ryder is lacking a full squad, Vetra will accompany.
An armored figure in N7 has the director at gun point just as you arrive in her office. They steal valuable data without so much as a word and make their escape via a shuttle that shoots out the glass. The office seals down and shutters to stabilize the room, leaving you and the Nexus leaderless. From the office you can begin to put out fires across the Nexus and try to track who is coming or going.
The reason I started making the most substantial changes here is because here in lies the game's call to action within its story structure. Most stories have a call to action fairly early on after the setting is established. Now, Andromeda is strange in that... there really isn't a call to action. You get to the Nexus and the important people tell you to do what you were already planning to do. The game is the call to action with its jump to Andromeda and the story makes more sense from Alec's point of view where he has motivation to make this grand leap into a different galaxy. But the game has its premise from the word go and doesn't deviate.
It establishes that the Initiative needs to start settling down but even after so many complications, the plot doesn't change. It just becomes about removing obstacles.
- Check out Habitat 7 > oh no, the storm! > We fixed it, learned about vaults and move on
- Let's dock with the Nexus > oh no, they have no power! > We got them power for a while, move on
- Let's learn more about these useful vaults > oh no, Khett! > Kill them so we can go back to settling this galaxy
I realize what I just did was very reductionist but look at the reduced plot line in Mass Effect 1:
- Let's go find the beacon on Eden Prime > oh no, terrorist robots attacked! > save the colony > get crazy vision that warns you of the upcoming apocalypse
- Let's expose Saren > oh no, no one believes us! > get evidence > become secret agent to stop him ourselves.
- Let's learn more about protheans > oh no, the asari expert is under attack! > we saved her and are now able to begin piecing together the meaning of the visions.
See what I mean? Plot lines don't stop once an immediate problem is solved, they weave into further story lines or create entirely new ones to jump off into. It's a big galaxy, milky way or Andromeda, and there's so much that could or should happen.
All Andromeda does is get up in your face, challenge you to do the job you were about to start doing, and say you better get it right. And for some reason, you're only one who can do it, even though you didn't ask to go to Andromeda in the first place.
I don't understand why no one is equipped to do the one thing they're all here to do. You can argue that all the important people are dead but then that just makes it weird that the second string in this line up would be made up of people this useless. Why would you make your second line of defense worst than your first?
Next post we'll talk more about where Ryder goes from here and what becomes their main objective throughout the entire reworked narrative.
- Gabe
Writer, Let's Player, Proud member of Huffle N' Stuff
@GabeNStuff
Mass Effect: Andromeda... 1 Year Later
Retrospective - Andromeda
The More You Know
 |
| The Scourge of the Heleus Cluster! Argh! |
So, if you noticed in my last post, I made no mention of the Archon. That's because he's no longer the major antagonist of the narrative. The Khett remain a threat and sub faction but function more like a horde of jobbers (see "losers" in dictionary) that can overwhelm in large numbers and devastate any large groups by infecting populations via either the scourge or serious exposure to Khett forces. The true antagonist starts to become apparent once your father goes missing and foul play is suspected even more so once we arrive at...
The Nexus - Fool's Errand
 |
| And on your right... space |
I haven't had a chance to dive into the prequel novel to Andromeda, "Nexus Uprising," but thanks to helpful message boards and some decent summary work by the game I have a pretty good understanding of the events. And knowing these events, I don't see why they shouldn't be part of the game proper. Supplementary material can help support your fictional universe and spread word along different mediums but consider that it can also complicate your world building and make an interactive medium like video games suffer from a lack of first hand agency and involvement with important events.
Andromeda doesn't suffer too much from this story's absence but that's largely because the script doesn't demand anything from it. Nothing about the uprising is useful to stopping the Khett, the Archon, or understanding Remnant tech. Which is a shame because the subplot regarding Jien Garson, Alec Ryder, and the Benefactor is the more interesting plot at hand. Hence why in this rewrite, it has the bigger focus; it represents so much of what made the original series so great. Intrigue, mystery, sympathetic characters with sympathetic motives.
And so, as Ryder arrives on the Nexus, we paint a scene familiar to Mass Effect 1 and coming onto the citadel. Tensions are high and morale is low on the Nexus with Jien Garson still alive and trying to keep everything together. We get caught up on how desperate things are as we are still the only pathfinder and ark accounted for. Jien Garson calls upon you and several others to manage the crisis with whispers of dissent within several side characters and side quests that reveal the general mood.
The Pathfinder's goal here being to reassure the public that success is on the horizon. Pathfinders are meant to be those who navigate hostile environments and find suitable homes. Their discoveries make life possible by understanding various ecosystems and culture through the choices they make.
Insert role play for what type of Pathfinder your Ryder is and what kind of speech they give. Your intentions here may give future factions (most of which are still on the Nexus at this point and so will know who you are) an impression to think on.
Unfortunately, the arrival of the human ark sparks more controversy when it's time to decide where the new resources go. The Krogan and soon to be exiles break into a firefight with most of the Initiative caught in the middle.
Cut to some firefights on the Nexus where Ryder, Liam, and Cora are fighting for their lives while making their way to the director requesting assistance from an attacker. We get mini objectives along the way and some choices to make. Andromeda doesn't have as many choices as the original series and taken into consideration that there's no longer a paragon/renegade system, it feels like we missed out on some interesting ways for players to think out their decisions. A small but important choice here could present Ryder with the choice to split up the squad to focus priorities.
Ryder can choose to have Liam and/or Cora attend to certain tasks:
1. Civilian Escort
2. Secure Station Critical Systems
3. Or Ryder can have one or both along to find the director.
 |
| No Ryder, I expect you to... figure it out |
There would be consequences to Ryder's actions and who attends to what task should effect how well it is done. And obviously having more people along for one task makes it more successful. Regardless, Ryder will meet Vetra along the way to the director. If Ryder has a full party, Vetra will shadow the party and be able to sneak more intel on who is attacking the director. Otherwise, if Ryder is lacking a full squad, Vetra will accompany.
An armored figure in N7 has the director at gun point just as you arrive in her office. They steal valuable data without so much as a word and make their escape via a shuttle that shoots out the glass. The office seals down and shutters to stabilize the room, leaving you and the Nexus leaderless. From the office you can begin to put out fires across the Nexus and try to track who is coming or going.
The reason I started making the most substantial changes here is because here in lies the game's call to action within its story structure. Most stories have a call to action fairly early on after the setting is established. Now, Andromeda is strange in that... there really isn't a call to action. You get to the Nexus and the important people tell you to do what you were already planning to do. The game is the call to action with its jump to Andromeda and the story makes more sense from Alec's point of view where he has motivation to make this grand leap into a different galaxy. But the game has its premise from the word go and doesn't deviate.
It establishes that the Initiative needs to start settling down but even after so many complications, the plot doesn't change. It just becomes about removing obstacles.
- Check out Habitat 7 > oh no, the storm! > We fixed it, learned about vaults and move on
- Let's dock with the Nexus > oh no, they have no power! > We got them power for a while, move on
- Let's learn more about these useful vaults > oh no, Khett! > Kill them so we can go back to settling this galaxy
I realize what I just did was very reductionist but look at the reduced plot line in Mass Effect 1:
- Let's go find the beacon on Eden Prime > oh no, terrorist robots attacked! > save the colony > get crazy vision that warns you of the upcoming apocalypse
- Let's expose Saren > oh no, no one believes us! > get evidence > become secret agent to stop him ourselves.
- Let's learn more about protheans > oh no, the asari expert is under attack! > we saved her and are now able to begin piecing together the meaning of the visions.
See what I mean? Plot lines don't stop once an immediate problem is solved, they weave into further story lines or create entirely new ones to jump off into. It's a big galaxy, milky way or Andromeda, and there's so much that could or should happen.
All Andromeda does is get up in your face, challenge you to do the job you were about to start doing, and say you better get it right. And for some reason, you're only one who can do it, even though you didn't ask to go to Andromeda in the first place.
I don't understand why no one is equipped to do the one thing they're all here to do. You can argue that all the important people are dead but then that just makes it weird that the second string in this line up would be made up of people this useless. Why would you make your second line of defense worst than your first?
Next post we'll talk more about where Ryder goes from here and what becomes their main objective throughout the entire reworked narrative.
- Gabe
Writer, Let's Player, Proud member of Huffle N' Stuff
@GabeNStuff
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