Mass Effect 5 devs quietly confirm whether we can expect an open world

Mass Effect 5 looks set to do away with an open world experience.

Open-world RPGs, while beloved by gamers, can pose problems for developers.

These issues, which include a lack of detail and sprawling open spaces devoid of content, were part of the reason Mass Effect Andromeda was criticised.

But without reigniting old discourse, Andromeda’s “mistakes” have helped BioWare to learn what works best.

In a Rolling Stone interview, BioWare’s John Epler said, “I do think Andromeda was a better game than its reception suggested.

Speaking of BioWare, have you checked out Dragon Age: The Veilguard? You really should

“But on the flip side, I don’t think the reception was unfair. At the time of launch, there were technical issues and things that didn’t work.”

Further along during the conversation, Epler pinpoints open-world designs as the flaw that BioWare intends to address in Mass Effect 5.

“We had been doing Dragon Age pre-production on versions of Dragon Age 4, and we did have a version that was a lot more open-world. But again, we ran into the same problem of how do you make it compelling or narratively interesting?”

You can interpret this however you like, but many fans believe this is a subtle hint at the next Mass Effect title not being open-world. Or at the very least, less open-world.

Redditor DevilCouldCry said, “I really agree with this and I'm glad they can recognise it [...] I hope they can nail it on the next go around, because Andromeda was not it for me sadly.”

“My memory of Andromeda is searching for stuff in boring annoying fetch quests on an open world,” commented falling_sideways.

Now that BioWare is focused on ME5 after the success of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, fans are waiting with bated breath to learn more details.

One of the latest ME5 teasers we’ve had was exactly what we needed to hear, and thus has given fans hope that the new game is on the right track.

We’re so ready to explore space as an N7 once more.