Fans of Mass Effect 2 will be happy to hear that Mass Effect: Andromeda will be bringing back the loyalty system tied to the game’s companions. In Mass Effect 2, players could unlock abilities, outfits and even affect the game’s ending by completing loyalty missions.
“I loved the loyalty missions,” said creative director Mac Walters in an interview with Gameinformer. “As a writer, one of the things I loved was the freedom to say ‘I know this character is coming along,’ so they can carry a lot of the narrative. That made my job easier, but it also made it more fun, because I could tell a more specific story in one of those missions,” he continued.
Unlike previous loyalty missions, Andromeda’s will feel more optional. Players have the choice to completely avoid loyalty missions without it negatively impacting the overall story drastically.
In other related news, Mass Effect 2 and 3 were recently added to Xbox One’s library of backward compatible games. Also, a cinematic trailer was released earlier this week, teasing some of the game’s story elements and locations.
Mass Effect: Andromeda releases on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in Spring 2017. Stay tuned for more updates on the game leading up to its launch.