Mass Effect 4: Andromeda - 10 Lessons It Must Learn From The Witcher 3

6. Make Environments Living, Breathing Places

So now that we've given the Andromeda Galaxy the same design philosophy as The Witcher 3's Continent, let's pack it out with some life. While Mass Effect's cities were well designed environments with plenty of people to interact with, just about any outside area was a barren wasteland. Are there no villages in the future? No people travelling driving around between towns, wandering around in the wilderness, or gathering round shrines to pray to some druidic gods? While The Witcher 3 made you feel like an individual in a world that lives on independently of your existence, Mass Effect 3 felt like everyone in the galaxy was simply waiting around for you to interact with them. Andromeda needs to raise the Mass Effect series' game by adding more character to its galaxy. The Witcher 3 makes the player curious to explore every corner of its mysterious, beautiful world. You'll be sailing along a lake, then spot a strange, gnarled tree in the distance and head off to see what's going on there. You'll stumble upon villages inhabited only by children, well-hidden caves with bizarre inhabitants, and even - on extremely rare occasions - a ghost ship sailing across the sky. You end up wandering around the game just to see what surprises it'll throw your way. Andromeda needs to infuse its galaxy with a similar sense of wonderment, rather than make everything feel like a utility to your mission. Planets should be more than just resource mines, and people should be more than quest-givers.