[Megathread] Mass Effect Andromeda

[May90]

I like variations of Bethesda/Fallout. Enemies have a min/max level so they are still tough if you reach them early, they scale with you for a bit, and then you can slap them around once you get OP.

Dragon Age Origins used that. Since then Bioware has mostly used direct scaling, but since you usually gain overpowered abilities and loot as you go, you still feel a good sense of progression.

I wasn't a big fan of these systems either, to be honest. For example, I try to fight a level 5 enemy and fail, I think, "Okay, I will level to 7 and try to beat it again". I return, only to see the enemy now being also level 7. But I wanted to have revenge on that particular enemy, not its scaled version!

Witcher 3 had a sweet system. Enemies do not scale at all (as far as I remember), but in almost every area there will be some places that feature high-level mobs. Unless you dramatically outlevel all the content, for which you need to grind mobs endlessly, you will always have some challenge to take. At the same time, enemies that gave you trouble earlier, become manageable eventually, and the joy of beating a level 12 gryphon which earlier slapped you in the face is enormous.

In any case, I am okay with the system in Andromeda, simply because of how combat works. Even if you reach level 100, you still need to take a lot of action in combat to survive. It is not like, say, Mass Effect 1, where, at level 50, you can literally stand in front of a horde of regular enemies on Insanity and your health will regenerate faster than they can damage you; here, you have to use cover and abilities, and to place your shots well, otherwise you will still get roasted.

[Ilikegreenfire]

No technology, be it hundreds, thousands, or 100 million years in the future can disperse the unfathomable amount of extremely precise terrestrial element composition to every cubic meter of the atmosphere in seconds. Or keep it recycled for that matter, since there are barely any photosynthetic or any other sort of oxygen/nitrogen/argon producing organisms or machines on the planet, and if there were, a breathable atmosphere would already exist.

The vaults extends under the entire planet, and can produce oxygen/nitrogen/argon ext. Remtech runs on super Omniegell, probably some kind of nanobots that solidify into and out of shape as needed, they just pump those around to the planet to fix it as they form to any needed configuration. Hell they can even form to plant life. And Eos still has quite a few plants, its more of Utah than a Sahara

They don't clear the whole planet instantly, but they start the process. The initial Eos starting area had a lower amount of radiation than the surrounding areas so it cleared up faster.

The Remnant builders make the Reapers look low tech by comparison.

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I thought they were a pain too. Until I just kept moving. I'd would just keep going left and then back to the right while firing and it wasn't a problem. Of course I am using a plasma seeking Dahn shotgun so I never need accurate aim to hit the Architect and its easier to hit while moving.

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Kett ascendants are such a poor design. A small hitbox target to break a shield, and a shield that gets put up way to fast for the amount of time it takes to take down. Even in single player they are not a challenge. Just a time sink.

Ya ascendants and architects are the only parts i dont like about the gameplay. they aren't really fun just time sinks. Fiend and destroyers are fun, but they really need to change the amount of time it takes to take them down, On insanity an Archetect is like 20 min, 5 min for each leg 5 min of travel time. An Ascendant is more like 10 not as bad but that damn shield stall thing is fucking annoying, late game you only have time for a full combo before his shield is back.

I would make it so the Architect legs are attack able a bit more often, and stop the travel time. Ascendants i would double or triple the length before they get a new orb. Its not like those two are challenging just time sinks. Shot shoot dodge doge shoot shoot, idk who though the ascendants abilities were a good idea. Should have had a quicker attack you needed to run to cover for, and maybe have his ball heal him instead of make him invulnerable.

[PACOX]

Got an Asari Adept. Loved the playstyle so much (priming stuff with Annihilation and then detonating it with Throw/Lance) that I made the build in SP. That didn't go so well because of the muscle memory of playing an Infil/Sent/Engineer my entire playthrough. 2nd playthrough is defin going to be an Adept and/or Vanguard running Annihilation/Lance and Charge or Throw.

[Elim Garak]

Pull + Throw + Charge + Superhero Landing = Awesome

[Matt0193]

Personally, I'm not a fan of enemy scaling with you, because it takes away the progression feeling. I prefer the system in which you gradually become stronger and stronger, but there is also a large variety of enemies to fight, and almost always you can find a proper challenge. I liked DAI in this regard: even when I was done with all the content except for the last quest and a couple of optional dragon bosses, those dragon bosses still presented a challenge.

Enemies should scale with you at a lesser rate. So you gain 10 health, they gain 2 to 5. That way you're always going to be substantially stronger, but they're not peasants that eventually pose no threat to you, even in large numbers.

[Omians]

its interesting having Drack give fatherly(grand) advise to all the crew members even Ryder. like the giant Krogan father i didnt know i needed

[prwraith]

I'm a little annoyed by the end of the game you don't find out who killed Jan garson, who the benefactor is, what grand plan the benefactor had, other than re-seeding humanity

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its interesting having Drack give fatherly(grand) advise to all the crew members even Ryder. like the giant Krogan father i didnt know i needed

Drack is easily the best crew member, my favorite out of all the mass effects

[Adam Jensen]

Typical.

Vanguard is level 19 and I can't get a stable game to save my life.

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I'm a little annoyed by the end of the game you don't find out who killed Jan garson, who the benefactor is, what grand plan the benefactor had, other than re-seeding humanity

That'll be DLC and/or ME5.

Andromeda was a set up for a new series or trilogy.

[prwraith]

Enemies should scale with you at a lesser rate. So you gain 10 health, they gain 2 to 5. That way you're always going to be substantially stronger, but they're not peasants that eventually pose no threat to you, even in large numbers.

With that you run into long term problems.

Ie
Level 1 you have 10 health you do 5 damage. They have 5 and do 2.5
Level 2 you have 20 health and do 10 damage, they have 10 health and do 5
Level 3 you have 30 Health and do 15 Damage they have 15 health and do 7.5

Level 20 you have 200 health and do 100 damage they have 100 health and do 50 damage. The divide won't grow more than you 1 shotting everyone, and them 4 shotting you. So effectively no point in leveling

[Drakpower]

its interesting having Drack give fatherly(grand) advise to all the crew members even Ryder. like the giant Krogan father i didnt know i needed

I really appreciated his character. I'm partial to Krogan thanks to Wrex and Grunt. Drack is still Krogan but, different 'cause of his father-ly-ness.

[prwraith]

I really appreciated his character. I'm partial to Krogan thanks to Wrex and Grunt. Drack is still Krogan but, different 'cause of his father-ly-ness.

Apparently Krogan level out at after 1100 years lol.

[Lahis]

I'm a little annoyed by the end of the game you don't find out who killed Jan garson, who the benefactor is, what grand plan the benefactor had, other than re-seeding humanity

Either DLC or sequel material there.

[Adam Jensen]

I really appreciated his character. I'm partial to Krogan thanks to Wrex and Grunt. Drack is still Krogan but, different 'cause of his father-ly-ness.

Yeah, there's a reason we love Grampa Drack:



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You know, there's something I've been wondering. The Nexus arrived first, had its share of Turian, Salarian, Human and Asari. Why weren't there any Quarians or any of the other Milky Way races?

Did the Nexus leave with just Council races on board? You'd think they'd have a few Quarians to greet their ark when it arrived.

[Drakpower]

Yeah, there's a reason we love Grampa Drack:

[IMG]snip[/IMG]

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You know, there's something I've been wondering. The Nexus arrived first, had its share of Turian, Salarian, Human and Asari. Why weren't there any Quarians or any of the other Milky Way races?

Did the Nexus leave with just Council races on board? You'd think they'd have a few Quarians to greet their ark when it arrived.

That letter is great, as is the one titled Matriarch Credits.

Maybe your Quarians are on another ark? I think they mentioned that because of their various biological needs, they elected to come later along with the other Hanar, Elcor, etc. Though I don't see why they couldn't pack in a couple per ark since the Human ark contained all sorts of Krogans, Salarains and Asari.

[Adam Jensen]

I'm in the bridge. I read my emails. I talk to Suvi and Kallo and PeeBee.

I go to the research station.

"You have new email at your terminal Pathfinder."

>.< SAM!

[Nerraw]

I'm a little annoyed by the end of the game you don't find out who killed Jan garson, who the benefactor is, what grand plan the benefactor had, other than re-seeding humanity

There's a rumor going around that the second story DLC will deal with this. Leak also suggests it'll be out in early October.

[I Push Buttons]

I'm a little annoyed by the end of the game you don't find out who killed Jan garson, who the benefactor is, what grand plan the benefactor had, other than re-seeding humanity

The abruptness of that quest line's end and the lack of resolution lead me to believe EAware legit just cut it to sell later. No polish, no nothing, just "hey clip that already finished quest line at some arbitrary point so we can sell it as DLC..."

A real shame too since it was the only story that had any substance in the entire fucking shit game.

[prwraith]

The abruptness of that quest line's end and the lack of resolution lead me to believe EAware legit just cut it to sell later. No polish, no nothing, just "hey clip that already finished quest line at some arbitrary point so we can sell it as DLC..."

A real shame too since it was the only story that had any substance in the entire fucking shit game.

I agree tbh.

The quest is like omg why would this happen here's all this mystery....never mentioned again outside a line or two

[Derah]

I'm a little annoyed by the end of the game you don't find out who killed Jan garson, who the benefactor is, what grand plan the benefactor had, other than re-seeding humanity

They have to leave stuff open for the sequels. I agree that those dangling plot threads HAVE to be resolved eventually. Either in DLC or sequels. But there has to be some form of hook to keep players invested.

One reason why Andromeda's story felt less epic than the original trilogy, is because rather than a sequel, this game is entirely focused on foundation-building. Planting the seeds of several plot threads that will come to fruition in future installments. That is not to say the game lacked a story of its own, its just that said story wasn't the focus. The foundation-laying was. And those things you mentioned are part of that. I expect that mystery to be unraveling over a long time.

[I Push Buttons]

They have to leave stuff open for the sequels. I agree that those dangling plot threads HAVE to be resolved eventually. Either in DLC or sequels. But there has to be some form of hook to keep players invested.

One reason why Andromeda's story felt less epic than the original trilogy, is because rather than a sequel, this game is entirely focused on foundation-building. Planting the seeds of several plot threads that will come to fruition in future installments. That is not to say the game lacked a story of its own, its just that said story wasn't the focus. The foundation-laying was. And those things you mentioned are part of that. I expect that mystery to be unraveling over a long time.

That is utter bullshit because they have emphasized time and again that this isn't the start of a new trilogy. Like literally every other interview Mac Walters did since they started dropping details on the game... "This is a standalone game..." "This isn't the start of a new trilogy..." "This game has a different structure than the Commander Sheppard trilogy where each game built upon the last..." Etc.

Not to mention that even if it was the start of a trilogy, that is a shit argument... "Its ok if the story is garbage guys... Its just the first game! We just need to pay them $360 for the games and all their DLC over the next half decade to get the full experience and then it will be good!"