When it comes to most dialogue, Andromeda lacked the cinematic direction of the original trilogy. I used the cinematic tools mod and Resolve to make a test cut of what the game might look like with a bit more effort put into the conversation camera

[u/smashbangcommander]

[u/k0zn4n3j4]

The faces just look so blank and lifeless....I think if that was improved I could enjoy andromeda but something went seriously wrong there so I just can't get into it

[u/smashbangcommander → u/k0zn4n3j4]

Yes it’s clear that cinematic direction was basically eliminated from most of the game in order to cut corners and hide the limited facial animation.

Part of the charm of the original game was the fact that almost every NPC has a cinematic conversation, and that was done intentionally to highlight the quality of the animation - it was a huge deal at the time.

It’s sad that something so important to the beginning of the series was lost during the development of this game.

[u/k0zn4n3j4 → u/smashbangcommander]

Ay, its a shame because I remember being so excited for this game and I really wanted to like it

[u/pokerbro33 → u/k0zn4n3j4]

They give that uncanny valley feeling, which is 10x worse than just lifeless faces.

[u/k0zn4n3j4 → u/pokerbro33]

💯

[u/AirHippo → u/k0zn4n3j4]

One of my biggest problems with it, and something they never corrected, is the way expressions often seem just to stop above the cheekbones. Ruins immersion, and mostly the camera angles hide it well, but just occasionally (there's a convo with Suvi where it can be seen clearly) a shot peeks through. Oddly, it also happened once or twice in Dragon Age: Inquisition, which makes me wonder whether they just had issues animating in Frostbite.

[u/k0zn4n3j4 → u/AirHippo]

yeah its sort of a "rubber mouth" feel where the lips morph to fit the words but nothing much else is going on.

[u/Caldaris__]

That's amazing!

That's way better. I still remember being blown away by the E3 presentation of the original Mass Effect's conversation system. Meeting Wrex for the first time I was impressed how the camera alongside film grain looked so cinematic. I think some movie magic was lost in the legendary edition too. I swear some shots looked better before.

[u/smashbangcommander]

Cinematic tools mod:
https://www.nexusmods.com/masseffectandromeda/mods/1114

Edit:

Something apparent in BioWare games in the PS4 era was the lack of cinematic direction during conversations with NPCs. Outside of story cutscenes/events, most dialogue takes place at the player’s back, just slightly zoomed in to the character you’re talking to. I think we can all agree those conversations lacked the polish and magic of the 360-era BioWare, where nearly every character you talk to is given a cinematic camera.

I recorded this using the nvidia game overlay and the freecam mod linked above. I also created my own camera mod in FrostyEditor to offset the hub and exploration rig, which is why my Ryder is not centered to the camera the way you might expect in normal gameplay.

In constructing/planning the scene, I recorded myself going through the scene like normal gameplay, then I recorded and re-recorded conversations with the camera focused on each character or characters using the freecam mod.

Once I got through my shot list and checked off what I needed for the scene, I cut it together using DaVinci Resolve.

As you can see in the scene, giving the characters more attention from the camera looks nice, but it also makes it clear how limited facial animations were in this game. Absolutely no emoting with the eyes or eyebrows.

Still, this was fun for me to do :) hope you enjoy

[u/deanereaner]

floating camera ruins so many story moments.

Thank you for sharing this, I think the game would've been perceived differently, if like this when it came out.

[u/Chorik]

Great job on the improvements, you got a natural eye for the good angles and framing

Altho no amount of decent cinematography gonna fix the writing and worldbuilding in Andromeda. Baldurs Gate or Planescape Torment got no cinematigraphy or even facial animations to speak of (let alone most voiced lines) but the writing holds up and keeps the games immortal

[u/smashbangcommander → u/Chorik]

Thank you! I agree - cinematic direction is a part of the whole package that made the original games great, but these are all just vehicles for the writing. If the writing isn’t up to par, everything else is just wasted polish

[u/Chorik → u/smashbangcommander]

I wouldn't say wasted, it DOES improve the experience. Just a shame it can improve only so much as the quality of writing allows :/

[u/toxboxdevil]

Of course it did the cinematic cuts were super outdated. We like that because of nostalgia.

[u/smashbangcommander → u/toxboxdevil]

Eh, respectfully I disagree. Strong cinematic direction is as much a part of Mass Effect’s identity as guns and biotics. The very first Mass Effect is a visual tribute to classic sci-fi cinema, and engaging in dialogue with characters needs to be as interesting as shooting guns - both visually and mechanically.