Mass Effect: Andromeda’s story is its own thing, and not the beginning of a new trilogy

EA and BioWare appear to be taking a more cautious approach to Mass Effect: Andromeda. Possibly in the wake of the bombshell that Mass Effect 3 left in the wake of its highly controversial ending, EA may feel like they need to see the public embrace Andromeda before they commit to producing more Mass Effect games. In an interview with Game Informer, BioWare's Creative Director Mac Walters talked at length about Andromeda's story, namely concerning how different its structure will be.

For one thing Mass Effect: Andromeda, as it stands now is its own self-contained story told within the traditional hero's journey structure as outlined by Joseph Campbell.  Walters said:

"At the end of this, we want it to feel like a story has completed. Yes, for the universe, there's much more you could explore, and we want to tease that, but it feels like its own story. It's like, 'Great. I had my Ryder sibling becoming-a-hero story. What's next? Is it going to be Ryder? Is it going to be something else? Who knows?'"

It's also worth noting that in a Q&A video that Game Informer released today, Walters also revealed that Andromeda's campaign will be playable offline and that your comrades can't die.

By the time Mass Effect: Andromeda releases, it will have been half a decade since we last had a new Mass Effect game release, so regarding the brand, the game has a bit of responsibility to re-establish its legitimacy in this new console generation. Subsequent releases in a given franchise typically don't take this long to come out, and for big publishers like EA, it is a "what have you done for me, lately" kind of world.

Speaking of Mass Effect, the entire trilogy is now backwards compatible on Xbox One and you can now pre-order Mass Effect: Andromeda if you are convinced by what you have seen thus far.

Source: [Game Informer via Gamespot]