Mass Effect Andromeda Character Animations - No Improvements on Day One
The new installment in the Mass Effect franchise has recently found itself under fire for the unintentionally hilarious character animations during dialogues and cutscenes. Videos and compilation gifs are everywhere. Unfortunately, this problem won’t be fixed in the Day One patch, since there isn’t enough time. Some future update might eventually remedy the issues.
The Internet is abuzz with gifs and videos of janky Mass Effect Andromeda facial animations. While a lot of people might find it overly nitpicky, there’s no denying that the characters look ridiculous at times. At times, they resemble glassy-eyed androids trying to pass as humans. It’s been a while since a game has given me such a profound uncanny valley effect. The facial features in cutscenes and during dialogue seem to move completely independent of each other. The final result is hilarious at best and downright horrifying at worst.
As you can see in the video above, the characters absolutely do not emote properly. There’s a scene where Ryder talks about the death of the father, all the while keeping their default, blank, half-smiling expression. It’s incredibly creepy. But the example below seems to be the most famous right now.
More like Mass Effect: Androids because
— Nibel (@Nibellion) March 16, 2017
YOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/K4JdhQ5dcc
These twenty seconds perfectly encapsulate both the flat dialogue and the stilted mo-cap. Who in the world has ever uttered the sentence “my face is tired”, especially in such a casual tone? And notice how the face remains absolutely immobile while the character clearly changes emotions in her voice? It may not be a deal breaker for most, sure. But a game that’s so character-based and dialogue-heavy, these small annoyances can add up pretty quickly.
Unfortunately, it appears that the Day One patch won’t fix these problems. According to a Twitter post by lead designer Ian Frazier, it’s too late for that. Some update further down the line might, but there’s no further info to go on. Meanwhile, feel free to enjoy some more choice moments from ME Andromeda.
i dont think ill ever get tired of trashing the new Mass Effect pic.twitter.com/jwXxdaRCtU
— Nathan Ranney (@RatCasket) March 16, 2017
— Nibel (@Nibellion) March 16, 2017
like… pic.twitter.com/ZviEpwVOoB
— Nathan Ranney (@RatCasket) March 16, 2017
