After the original Mass Effect Trilogy climbed to the highest peaks of the gaming industry, the series came tumbling down the pedestal with its fourth release in the series.

The RPG was criticized for a slew of changes, including the barren open world, soulless character animations, and a mediocre story. All these tidbits collectively destroyed the expectations of the Mass Effect fans, causing a huge backlash.

However, BioWare’s John Epler seemingly argues that its highly negative rating does not accurately portray the game. He thinks the RPG still holds up better than the ratings made it out to be.

Why it matters: BioWare’s stance highlights that not everyone in the studio accepts how grimly Mass Effect Andromeda was painted by the negative reception.
BioWare is also working on another unannounced game besides Mass Effect 5.
While speaking in an interview with Rolling Stone, John Epler argued that Andromeda was a better game than the reception painted it out to be. Some criticisms were addressed by BioWare after the game came out, such as bugs and crashes. However, the other core gameplay issues still linger to this day.

“I do think Andromeda was a better game than its reception suggested, but on the flip side, I don’t think the reception was unfair.”

John also clarified that a rendition of Dragon Age 4 was also in development back in the day, which was supposed to follow the open-world route. However, the barrage of negative reviews on Andromeda inspired BioWare to drop the idea altogether.
BioWare’s new game, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, received mixed reactions upon launch.