#I like tactics and micromanagement in my RPGs but I am also in the minority there I think

[blarrghe]

saying this ahead of the gameplay footage so anything could change, really, but I for one have not played Mass Effect. I have tried to start ME1 three times and never gotten very far, specifically because I get stumped by the combat. I heard the Legendary Edition updated it a bit and that it might be easier for me, and I made a pretty plain brute-force type character to avoid having to deal with scifi magic (I'm pretty ok at first person shooters!) and I still got kinda bogged down by the missions before I could get hooked by the plot.

So I get that some people are excited about ME-like combat and some people are dreading it because I, personally, love DAO combat and struggle with Mass Effect. That said! I'm excited. Every game in this series has changed combat mechanics, sometimes in ways I like and sometimes in ways I find challenging, sometimes both at once. Hearing that DA4 may have more mass-effecty combat made me go: ok. I should really pick that one up again and actually learn how to play it.

Because you know what? Sometimes you have to learn the controls for a game. My partner is always teasing me for complaining that I suck at games when I am "not even using the jump button". As in, this game works well and is balanced if you learn the controls. You don't suck, you just aren't using all it's giving you. Of course Mario is hard if you never learn to press the jump button. A bit of a challenge in learning a new mechanic system is part of playing new games. I'm ready to give this a chance, even though I've found Mass Effect tricky to get into before, because I love these games and stories and I want to be able to get in there and play with all the new characters and features and abilities.

I'm pretty sure it will be fun, even if it's different. I think some of us, myself included, need to really invest some time into opening our minds into a learning mindset and put some effort into practising the new things we want to be good at. Lots of games aren't easy. Lots of people play games just for the challenge of learning the new movements and tricks to the controls. That can be a hugely fun part of gaming if you're open to it.

I do get wanting the same kind of experience within a franchise, but Dragon Age hasn't done the same combat system twice yet. DA2 was a divergence from DAO with a few key things in common, DA:I was quite different still from that. I like tactical view and pausing to control my party but by all accounts a lot of people don't use it in Inquisition. I'm hoping to get to hop into other characters to control them but issuing commands could be neat with only two other party members. Whatever it is isn't going to be completely novel and foreign, anyway, it's going to be familiar to a lot of games because they obviously want some mass appeal. It might be hard if you aren't used to it, but learning can be good and fun.

And of course I am not talking about accessibility issues. It is 2024 and we can and should expect that there be good accessibility options in the settings, and we can and should complain if there aren't. But if you're just worried that new, more combat-centric gameplay might be hard... consider learning to learn? Put it on easy mode, try different classes, watch youtube tips videos, go try to learn Mass Effect. Consider learning to have fun with learning to learn.