Mass Effect: Andromeda's wonky animations got you feeling down? Try to be patient: BioWare aims to fix these and other grievances over several patches coming within the next two months. According to a roadmap released today, the patches will begin rolling out this Thursday, April 6, and will address some of the most-cited areas of player feedback.
You can read the full patch notes for update 1.05 if you like, but the short version is that BioWare is improving the appearance of eyes for human and Asari characters, fixing lip-sync issues and "facial acting" for NPCs, expanding inventory limits, and stabilizing multiplayer.
Up next on the company agenda is "More options and variety in the character creator, improvements to hair and general appearance for characters, ongoing improvements to cinematic scenes and animations, improvements to male romance options for Scott Ryder," and "adjustments to conversations with Hainly Abrams." It's not clear what all of this means (how do you "improve" male romance options? Is BioWare going to add a whole new romance via a patch?) but I suspect we'll find out more as time rolls on.
These plans are in addition to the usual bug squashing and stability fixes large games like Andromeda usually deploy, so it's not like BioWare is prioritizing more hair options over making the game actually work. The studio says it will also add new APEX missions in multiplayer, which bring with them new maps, characters, and weapons. Lastly, BioWare says it's "looking" at adding more cosmetic items to single-player at no charge to players.
"This is just a taste of what’s in store as we continue to support Mass Effect: Andromeda," BioWare writes. "And as always, you all play an important role in that. We want to hear from you about your experiences, both what you love about the game and what you’d like to see changed. We’re listening, and we’re committed to partnering with you as we continue to explore the Andromeda galaxy together."
Kudos to the devs for laying their cards on the table and taking criticism head-on. This was a big game with a lot of weight on its shoulders that didn't live up to many players' expectations. And whether you were satisfied with the base product or not, I think we can agree this is an encouraging move from BioWare.
