'Mass Effect: Andromeda' news: Producer promises more 'meaningful' sidequests; new gameplay features revealed

Meaningful sidequests will be added to "Mass Effect: Andromeda," BioWare recently announced.

Similar to CD Projekt Red's "The Witcher" franchise, BioWare is reportedly planning to introduce sidequests with deeper storylines. Producer Fabrice Condominas spoke with PC Gamer (via Gamespot), and he mentioned that part of their decision was influenced by the feedback received by "Dragon Age: Inquisition" about its sidequests.

The said game was mainly criticized for its insignificant and tedious sidequests, particularly in the Hinterlands. While it's unclear how "Andromeda" will improve its quests, Condominas revealed that "Inquisition" helped BioWare realize what needs to be changed.

"We are approaching the completionist aspect very differently, because we've done and learned a lot from Inquisition," he explained. "But we've also observed what other games have been doing, like The Witcher. And it was very important for us that the quantity of scope doesn't downgrade the quality of whatever you are doing there," he added.

Meanwhile, a number of new gameplay details were revealed this week. The upcoming RPG will reportedly have story missions centered on specific arenas instead of an open world. The developers are also taking the graphics up a notch by adding a galaxy map that is leaning more on 3D as compared to the usual 2D.

In addition, Bioware's Michael Gamble confirmed that the game's overall story is more positive in the sense that there's no overarching threat. Gamble stressed that players are not the focal point of the game because the spotlight is on the new galaxy and its people.

"The story is not only about the cast," Gamble further explained while discussing the loyalty missions. "The story is about settling, the story is about survival, the story is about the locals – and that's where the loyalties will definitely focus," he went on to say.

Developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, "Mass Effect: Andromeda" will be available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One starting March 21.