Mass Effect: Andromeda Will Have 'Meaningful' Side-Quests Inspired By The Witcher

Oh, Andromeda. For a game with such a lovely-sounding name, it comes as a nice (if not somewhat anticipated) treat that updates, details, and announcements surrounding the title have been generally equally as lovely. More good news for fans came this week, when Mass Effect: Andromeda's producer Fabrice Condominas sat down with PC Gamer to discuss inspirations for the game's side-quests.

In the interview, Condominas began discussing the supplementary missions in past Mass Effect installments, and mentioned how Andromeda would be tackling side-quests from a much different angle. After receiving backlash from Mass Effect players who believed later installments offered up quests that didn't have noticeable impact on the story or its stakes (or distracted from them), BioWare turned its head to CD Project Red to see what works and what doesn't.

Condominas cited two massive influences in the forms of the 2014-released action RPG title Dragon Age: Inquisition, also developed by BioWare, and the high-intensity hack-and-slash The Witcher (especially the most recent addition, The Witcher 3). According to Condominas, Mass Effect: Andromeda will be taking cues from these successful games to include "meaningful" side-quests.

"We are approaching the completionist aspect very differently, because we've done and learned a lot from Inquisition," Condominas explained. "But we've also observed what other games have been doing, like The Witcher. And it was very important for us that the quantity of scope doesn't downgrade the quality of whatever you are doing there."

It sounds like BioWare and the Mass Effect: Andromeda team have done their homework, zeroing in on exactly the type of game they'd like to deliver. As you count down the days to Andromeda's March 21, 2017 release, read up on the Mass Effect theory that will have you looking at the franchise completely differently.