One of the main features of the Mass Effect series was the ability to transfer your save file through the trilogy, continuing the story of your character through all three games. Mass Effect: Andromeda, however, will break that trend and allow players to start off fresh.
In a recent interview with IGN, BioWare creative director Mac Walters spoke about how the team wanted Andromeda to represent a new start to the series. BioWare even made sure that the events of Andromeda took place hundreds of years after Mass Effect 3, avoiding any conflict that would be caused by the player’s decisions.
“We had a lot of different ideas when we started on early concepts for what we wanted to do with the next Mass Effect game,” Walters stated. “I think, aside from the fact that we said the Mass Effect trilogy was a trilogy for Shepard’s story, which we have concluded, we were very careful to make sure that the big choices like that [Mass Effect 3 finale] wouldn’t impact your decisions.”
He continues: “We wanted Andromeda to be a fresh experience for everyone. So if you haven’t played, you don’t have to worry about whether you missed out on some key choice or something like that.”
Mass Effect: Andromeda will release in Spring 2017. The game will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game made an appearance at the EA Play conference during E3, where details and footage were released.