[Megathread] Mass Effect Andromeda

[Nazrark]

"Side quests feel like something from a 2004 Korean MMO." ...damn, I expected they learned from DA3...

If you haven't played a modern Korean MMO. They are still the same. Just prettier.

[Edge-]

That is one of the gems that sets the tone for the article. So an alien in a new galaxy can't shoot on sight? A new galaxy has to be different by virtue of being a new galaxy? The reviewer has some pretty clear bias going on and like I said seems to be meeting a word quota in the way they trash on certain subjects. But of course I can't mention any of that because a comment being funny can't happen since I disagree with the review.

Sure they can, but it's not a terribly interesting first interaction in a new galaxy. I see no issue with faulting that, as it doesn't really allow for much of a nuanced setup. Whether it will translate into a more nuanced narrative later, we'll see, but right out of the gate I can't say, "ENCOUNTERS HOSTILE ALIEN!" is terribly unique or inventive.

And yeah, if they're going to be using , "EXPLORE A NEW GALAXY!" as one of their key marketing points, I fully expect it to be different than the galaxy I've spent the last 3 games exploring. Otherwise, it's pretty misleading and would be more, "EXPLORE A VERY FAMILIAR GALAXY IN A NEW PLACE!"

It's possible they have a word quota for previews like this. Also possible that that's just how previews and shit are nowadays. Media put a higher premium on their "personal voices" and personal/site brands, that includes pointless "character commentary" like this in reviews.

It's a mixture of that driving traffic to their sites more than the "by the numbers" previews/reviews, and individuals wanting to make it big on their own a la what a number of ex-media have done through starting their own personal/group brands (Jimquisition, Kinda Funny etc.)

Like what? Every combat system for FPS or TPS has been done. They all have their flaws and they have all been created decades ago.

No clue, I'm not a paid BioWare employee. But I'd hope that they would make combat more interesting rather than less interesting as the games progress. To me it reminds me a lot of the devolution of the combat in Dead Space, another EA brand. The first was pretty fantastic, and it was a unique take on third person combat that played very well to the more survival/horror elements of the game. But by the third, it too had turned into Dead Gears of Space War and had lost almost everything that made it unique and interesting.

At least the heat based weapons are making a comeback. It's a slightly different spin on traditional ammo management that honestly adds a little character to the game, and it fits with the sci-fi narrative. I found that at least created something to differentiate the combat a bit compared to what ME2/3 ran with.

[rhorle]

Despite my skepticism, I'd take the RPS preview with grains of salt. I've seen previews elsewhere that were much more positive, and we'll likely see plenty of solid reviews. So will vary depending on personal taste etc.

Then why were you getting on me for accusing him of poorly reviewing it? If as you say it should be taken with grains of salt.

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Sure they can, but it's not a terribly interesting first interaction in a new galaxy. I see no issue with faulting that, as it doesn't really allow for much of a nuanced setup. Whether it will translate into a more nuanced narrative later, we'll see, but right out of the gate I can't say, "ENCOUNTERS HOSTILE ALIEN!" is terribly unique or inventive.

Okay then how would your interesting first interaction go? Why can't aliens respond with hostility? Remember we are invaders in their galaxy that know nothing about them. Apparently they can only set out tea and crumpets for us.

And yeah, if they're going to be using , "EXPLORE A NEW GALAXY!" as one of their key marketing points, I fully expect it to be different than the galaxy I've spent the last 3 games exploring. Otherwise, it's pretty misleading and would be more, "EXPLORE A VERY FAMILIAR GALAXY IN A NEW PLACE!"

But it is literally different.

No clue, I'm not a paid BioWare employee.

Ahh. So you are an armchair quarterback. You think it should be different but can't say how it should be different. But like to sing it from the mountains that something is shit.

[I Push Buttons]

In a different topic: I do have a single complaint about the game so far. In between all the amazing stuff I've seen up until now, one sticks out glaringly: The character creator is indeed very limited in scope. You can choose from 9 (Admittedly not very good) presets, and then do minor tweaks to them, but nothing too drastic. After being so thoroughly impressed with the character creator in Inquisition, this one is a major step-down.

Indeed this bothers me as well, my biggest concern apart from hideous Angara.

I also just learned that you can't alter the default Ryders' appearances. I thought they were OK-ish and I'd be fine playing them with some minor variations, like making Sara Ryder's huge mouth smaller... But we don't even have the option to do that.

So yeah... That coupled with the ugly presets that you can only slightly alter... I don't get what they were thinking... It is like multiple steps backwards, not just from Inquisition, but even the original trilogy.

[Sunseeker]

Then why were you getting on me for accusing him of poorly reviewing it? If as you say it should be taken with grains of salt.

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Okay then how would your interesting first interaction go? Why can't aliens respond with hostility? Remember we are invaders in their galaxy that know nothing about them. Apparently they can only set out tea and crumpets for us.



But it is literally different.




Ahh. So you are an armchair quarterback. You think it should be different but can't say how it should be different. But like to sing it from the mountains that something is shit.

Yeah I'm kinda here on this. Aliens are going to react in one of two ways: Friendship or Violence. Any "shades or grey" can be simplified down to some form of friendship or violence. Aliens allowing us to live on their world but forcing us to abide by very strict, oppressive laws could be seen as both violence and friendship.

Being a different galaxy doesn't really change anything. I don't really know why anyone would think it would. All living things compete for resources. Any significantly advanced creature that still relies on finite resources will seek new and more aggressive ways to acquire, protect and maintain those resources. As best as I can tell, Andromeda sounds a bit like Voyager. On our own (late and the early settlers are telling us to piss off) we run into a major setback and then encounter violent aliens.

I mean, I suppose we could have run into peaceful aliens, but running into peaceful aliens first always means you're about to run into the hostile aliens.

What, did people think this was going to be No Mans Sky 2.0? Explore the galaxy, do whatever the fuck you want. Fuck whatever the fuck you want? Eat nachos?

[Nazrark]

I mean it makes sense if there are ugly aliens. They all can't be pretty. The Vorcha and Yahg are pretty hideous looking, the same goes for the Batarian. The only pretty aliens are Asari and Hanar. Everything else is fairly debatable.

[Lahis]

The only pretty aliens are Asari and Hanar.

I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going....

[I Push Buttons]

This game is a gold mine.

[Derah]

So, the only thing that you can import from the ME trilogy, is if Shepard was male or female?

Yep. I guess they really wanted to start over from scratch. My guess is that the only reason we can even pick shepard's gender, is because, as one of the most famous humans of all times, shepard's bound to pop up in convesations here and there, and they have to use some pronoun to refer to them.

[fangless]

So, the only thing that you can import from the ME trilogy, is if Shepard was male or female?

Given when it takes place, it makes sense, no? This crew takes off sometime after ME2, and I'd imagine any choices you made are related to events/characters that won't be anywhere near where you are 600 years later.

[Sunseeker]

I mean it makes sense if there are ugly aliens. They all can't be pretty. The Vorcha and Yahg are pretty hideous looking, the same goes for the Batarian. The only pretty aliens are Asari and Hanar. Everything else is fairly debatable.

Lol, the funny part is how much of a sci-fi trope this is. Klingons and Jem'Hadar? Evil! Borg and Gorn? EVIL! Andorians and Vulcans? Assholes but not evil.

[Jastall]

On the subject of meeting violent aliens, having seen most of the first mission, it's actually more nuanced than just going in guns blazing. You can actually try to approach the situation peacefully, and you and the initial enemies cannot understand each other, so it always ends in violence. The characters also discuss the matter afterwards, so the game doesn't just go ''here's your new shooting gallery!''. And we obviously make friends with (some of?) the Angara, so it's not like we end up shooting every alien for kicks.

I think the RPS preview makes some potentially valid points, but a lot of it seems buried under unnecessary bile. It feels a bit contrarian, to be honest, and I don't say that often. RPS tends to wear their bias on their sleeve; their writers are as likely to loathe a game as they are to gush over it in an almost fetishistic way, like they did with XCOM 2. I mean, I liked that game to bits, but they focused on it with incredible fascination.

[Derah]

Jesus fuck… it just shows how disastrous that ending was… >.<

To be fair, they kinda wrote themselves into a corner. Even if the endings were better written, the consequences for each were so drastically different, there was no real way to make a sequel after them unless they decided to cut the branches and pick one ending as canon, which they stated they didn't want to do, or they did a cheap cop-out like the makers of Deus Ex did (Twice, for Invisible War, and Mankind Divided) or the makers of Elders Scrolls did for the endings of Daggerfall. So the only solution was a reboot.

Saints Row faced the same dillema after they wrote themselves into a corner with Saints Row 4, which is why their next game is also a reboot.

[Jastall]

Also, looking at the previews, animations seem OK to me. I've been replaying The Witcher 3 and on my new rig, and I don't see a major difference between the two titles. So far at least.

[Derah]

Also, looking at the previews, animations seem OK to me. I've been replaying The Witcher 3 and on my new rig, and I don't see a major difference between the two titles. So far at least.

I'm only very very slightly disappointed at the eyes.

I dunno, they seemed more "alive" in ME2 and 3. I guess because in those games, eyes still moved even when your character was perfectly still. Like, take a minute to decide what conversation choice to pick from, and shepard's eyes would still move subtly here and there in a way that felt and looked natural.

That natural eye movement.... I've been unable to see it here, plus in ME2 and 3, eyes were not perfect, they had little veins, little smudges as real eyes tend to do, but the eyes in Andromeda seem a little too perfect, 100% white with no spots or veins or anything whatsoever.

Its a very minor gripe that doesn't really detract from the game much, but it is one of the very few flaws I've been able to gleam from what I've seen so far.

If I start listing all the things I like about the game so far, we'd be here all day, so I'll keep it in 4 words: I liked almost everything.

As for things I've disliked so far (And they're more minor nitpickings that don't really diminish the game for me in a significant way):

Hair colors seem very funky. I get that having an RBG color-wheel means we can literally have any color under the rainbow as our hair-color, but my god, they look SO unnatural. I've seen girls with pink hair IRL, bright neon pink hair. And then I looked at a fem ryder with bright neon pink hair and that hair looks like a wig. A low budget wig. Thank god the more natural colors (such as black, brown, and natural red) do look realistic enough for this to be a minor issue.

Character creator is very limited, far more than any other bioware game since KOTOR. Its a sad day indeed when Mass Effect 1 almost 10 years ago had more customization options for your character =/

As mentioned above, eyes look less realistic.

Mouths still do that kissing motion when mentioning the "sh" sound (In words like Choice, Check, Shock, Chance, etc). Thank god its less pronounced than in previews, leading me to believe that this is something that can be fixed post-launch.

Resource Gathering. I didn't like it in Mass Effect 2, I didn't like it in Inquisition, and I don't think I'll like it here. I dunno, I like crafting as much as the next person, but I've never been a fan of farming resources. That was the one thorn in my shoe in Metal Gear Solid V, a game that I consider almost pure perfection otherwise.

If only more games had Fallout 4's approach to gathering. In that game, you can gather iron, plastic, rubber etc in its natural form in the world, or you can take all the crap junk you find lying around, and dismantle it for components. It allows for gathering of resources, while also doing any other quest you want. I loved picking up enemy weapons for dismantling, and entering a building where I had to do a quest, and pick it clean of anything not nailed to the ground, then disassemble it all at my base and come out rich in components.

[nekobaka]

Hmmm, I could have sworn I read that you could do them solo/with AI partners somewhere. May have totally hallucinated that though, as a quick google search isn't turning anything up.

Oh well, still down with it. At least there's an option to do that stuff for solo players so you're not largely at the mercy of whether or not you can get a multiplayer match if you want extra points (something I had great difficulty with on my ME3 playthrough last year).

It is from early interpretations of the interview as the strike team system was not unveiled yet. A bit sad as I did enjoy the Arena in Citadel DLC.
http://wwg.com/2017/01/03/new-multip...ect-andro/#nnn

“When you encounter a Strike Team mission in the Single-Player mode, you can leave your Strike Team at their base and decide to tackle the mission yourself with your Multiplayer roster of characters. You also have the option of tackling the mission by yourself, or recruiting up to three friends to play with you. The more friends you bring, the greater the challenge and the greater the reward.

[Sunseeker]

Mouths still do that kissing motion when mentioning the "sh" sound (In words like Choice, Check, Shock, Chance, etc). Thank god its less pronounced than in previews, leading me to believe that this is something that can be fixed post-launch.

Resource Gathering. I didn't like it in Mass Effect 2, I didn't like it in Inquisition, and I don't think I'll like it here. I dunno, I like crafting as much as the next person, but I've never been a fan of farming resources. That was the one thorn in my shoe in Metal Gear Solid V, a game that I consider almost pure perfection otherwise.

If only more games had Fallout 4's approach to gathering. In that game, you can gather iron, plastic, rubber etc in its natural form in the world, or you can take all the crap junk you find lying around, and dismantle it for components. It allows for gathering of resources, while also doing any other quest you want. I loved picking up enemy weapons for dismantling, and entering a building where I had to do a quest, and pick it clean of anything not nailed to the ground, then disassemble it all at my base and come out rich in components.

I dunno, I spent about 2 hours gathering early on in ME2 and ended up with about 50% of the resources I needed for the rest of the game. So, I dunno, maybe 4 hours total? I spaced it out later so I can't track, but I was trying to explore every world, figured I'd gather while I was there. I did certainly enjoy the ME1 option more of having little exploration missions in the Mako and finding resources, but they didn't do anything meaningful for the game.

I HATED reducing excess gear to omni gel. Not to mention, equipped gear still counted against your item limit, wholly fuuuuuuck who's idea was that!? I mean maybe it was just an old system or something I dunno.

I'm NOT a fan of crafting. Gathering is easy, do it while you're out, run by some stuff, yay gathering! Boring, but easy. I HATE crafting. I hate crafting with random percentile chances of failure. I hate crafting systems with random percentile chances of better results. I hate crafting systems with random percentile chances of making something completely un-fucking-related to what I wanted to make. I get it for MMOs, it's an economy management system, but it's completely friggen stupid in a SRPG.

Honestly, I downloaded some cheats for DAI to give me tons of every material. Then I just made whatever the hell I needed and moved on. If ME:A employs a similar crafting system, I'll probably do the same (though I don't even know why they have a crafting system if you can't equip your comps).

[Derah]

I HATED reducing excess gear to omni gel.

Why? it gave gear a triple purpose. Either it was good enough to be useful as an upgrade, or it was useful to get some extra money to buy better gear, or it was useful as a resource to avoid doing that shitty lockpick minigame. If anything, I wish there were multiple resources we could get by disassembling gear. I've spent a good chunk of time picking up items in Fallout 4 for disassembly.

I'm NOT a fan of crafting.

Ohh I totally love crafting, depending on how its implemented. In some games, its really fun (Such as Fallout 4) in others, its mundane, but functional (Such as Skyrim) and then in some games, its annoying and boring (Such as any game that includes the examples you gave, random percentages of failure, random percentages of increased success, random chance to make something else at random, etc). Games like Persona 4 had this crafting system and you can guess how I didn't touch it even with a 10-foot pole held by someone else.

Honestly, I downloaded some cheats for DAI to give me tons of every material. Then I just made whatever the hell I needed and moved on.

Yeah, same here, ditto for Metal Gear Solid V. I mean, when I have the choice of scrounging up the map for 10 hours trying to get 3 million units of fuel, or actually PLAYING and enjoying the game for 10 hours, guess which one I'm gonna go for?

Luckily, Cheat Engine always works, for any game. If the resource gathering ever gets to be a chore, I'll just use that and bypass it. I'm not a teen anymore, I don't have dozens of free hours each day to waste 6+ hours gathering shit just to craft something. At least in MMOs like wow, I can always buy what I need in the AH, but no such luck exists in SP, therefore, cheat engine FTW.

though I don't even know why they have a crafting system if you can't equip your comps.

It does seem like a wasted opportunity. I mean, up to a point I get why they did it. They want each character to have a distinct visual appearance. In ME1, if you decked both of them out in full armor, complete with helmets, there was visually little to no difference between Liara and Ashley, or between Male Shepard and Kaidan, or Female Shepard and Ashley. This is a big reason why each companion had only a single outfit (And a palette-swapped version of it for post-loyalty) in ME2.

But they could have really gone the way of Inquisition, were you could craft stuff for your party, and each of them would have unique appearances for their armor that kept their own individual outfit style. Every plate armor used by Cassandra had the Seeker sigil, every robe used by Vivienne was extravagant and flamboyant, every leather armor used by varric was an open-chested trenchcoat, etc.

[Sunseeker]

Why? it gave gear a triple purpose. Either it was good enough to be useful as an upgrade, or it was useful to get some extra money to buy better gear, or it was useful as a resource to avoid doing that shitty lockpick minigame. If anything, I wish there were multiple resources we could get by disassembling gear. I've spent a good chunk of time picking up items in Fallout 4 for disassembly.

Because I bought all the good gear. I had on average, 600+ omni gel. It just took up room in my bags. Picking up a million +2 Human Armors that I can't use/don't need is exactly the sort of thing I avoid in RPGs. I haven't run a random loot table at my D&D sessions for well on 6 years for this reason. If the party is just going to junk it, why give it to them in the first place?

Ohh I totally love crafting, depending on how its implemented. In some games, its really fun (Such as Fallout 4) in others, its mundane, but functional (Such as Skyrim) and then in some games, its annoying and boring (Such as any game that includes the examples you gave, random percentages of failure, random percentages of increased success, random chance to make something else at random, etc). Games like Persona 4 had this crafting system and you can guess how I didn't touch it even with a 10-foot pole held by someone else.

In MMOs I get the point of crafting, it's to gate access to the game and burn resrouces and slow down content consumption. These all serve the purpose of maintaining an in-game economy. SRPGs don't have an in-game economy. I much prefer a system similar to ME3 where you find new and unique weapons and armor via exploration and while there are some direct upgrades, most of the weapons are "unique". They fire at different rates, deal different types of damage, and so on. But once I have Super-Fast-Shooting Pistol, I don't need Super-Fast-Shooting Pistol +10. I don't need to craft a Super-Fast-Shooting Fire Pistol. These minor variants can be solved with mods.

IMO, crafting takes you out of the game. It puts you in a special minigame where you're doing something else, related, potentially beneficial but generally not what people consider "the game". (exploration, combat, social, the three traditional pillars of an RPG).

RPGs are better served by having me locate better weapons and armor via those three pillars, finding new merchants. Looting ancient ruins. Defeating bad-guys. Forging alliances. The elements of the game you do in order to complete the game should also advance the side-systems of the game. Having a self-advancing side-system of the game is really just another game, and you shouldn't have to play another game to play the game you want to play.

Yeah, same here, ditto for Metal Gear Solid V. I mean, when I have the choice of scrounging up the map for 10 hours trying to get 3 million units of fuel, or actually PLAYING and enjoying the game for 10 hours, guess which one I'm gonna go for?

Luckily, Cheat Engine always works, for any game. If the resource gathering ever gets to be a chore, I'll just use that and bypass it. I'm not a teen anymore, I don't have dozens of free hours each day to waste 6+ hours gathering shit just to craft something. At least in MMOs like wow, I can always buy what I need in the AH, but no such luck exists in SP, therefore, cheat engine FTW.

Exactly. BioWare games make it easy to collect materials most of the time, but it's just tedious and immersion breaking. Sure, it's a game you gotta have some "game" elements while exploring the world, but picking every friggen elfroot I see isn't exciting, adventurous or even fun.

It does seem like a wasted opportunity. I mean, up to a point I get why they did it. They want each character to have a distinct visual appearance. In ME1, if you decked both of them out in full armor, complete with helmets, there was visually little to no difference between Liara and Ashley, or between Male Shepard and Kaidan, or Female Shepard and Ashley. This is a big reason why each companion had only a single outfit (And a palette-swapped version of it for post-loyalty) in ME2.

But they could have really gone the way of Inquisition, were you could craft stuff for your party, and each of them would have unique appearances for their armor that kept their own individual outfit style. Every plate armor used by Cassandra had the Seeker sigil, every robe used by Vivienne was extravagant and flamboyant, every leather armor used by varric was an open-chested trenchcoat, etc.

I was really hoping for an Inquisition-style system. Unique appearances and meaningful gearing. I get that its easier not to, but it's also kinda dumb not to. Much with the same complaints about the KOTFE companions not allowing customization because they wanted them to feel more "unique". I mean come on, everyone in the game can get these companions, for no more than a couple hours play! "Unique" is not that.

[Ilikegreenfire]

Kotaku review seems good.

http://kotaku.com/five-hours-in-mass...ing-1793268493