[Megathread] Mass Effect Andromeda

[Kathandira]

that bit you added wasn't stating that Andromeda was an attempted copy of Skyrim... it was a suggestion that they should have built the game more like Skyrim.

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I'd say the modding resources is the first and foremost reason the game stands out so much. Elsewise, how does it compete with teh likes of Witcher and Dragon Age?

edit: I mean the mod scene is a source of near endless dlc and each dlc could be.... a single item or something like horse armor, OR Skywind. A whole game added in.

What I found that separated Skyrim from the rest of the open world games, is that you can totally just pick a direction, walk for a while, and find your own story.

The main plot I feel was purposely made very short. I felt the game was more geared towards you playing it your own way. I know many games have set out to do that, but I feel that only Skyrim achieved it.

[Very Tired]

I'd say the modding resources is the first and foremost reason the game stands out so much. Elsewise, how does it compete with teh likes of Witcher and Dragon Age?

edit: I mean the mod scene is a source of near endless dlc and each dlc could be.... a single item or something like horse armor, OR Skywind. A whole game added in.

Allowing players to add their own content in the form of mods really makes some games more amazing from Skyrim to TF2 or even Minecraft. It really seems something more games should be doing.

[Edge-]

http://www.vg247.com/2017/04/21/mass...is-generation/

Normally not much of a fan of their writers stuff but this hit a lot of points that I agree with on DA:I, and seems to echo many of the open world criticisms I've seen for ME:A.

Glad I'm not the only one seeing BW struggle to make the transition to current gen, I was concerned I was going nuts for a bit.

[rhorle]

Allowing players to add their own content in the form of mods really makes some games more amazing from Skyrim to TF2 or even Minecraft. It really seems something more games should be doing.

It can also make games not as amazing. Skyrim works with mods because it fills in a lot of the blank spaces. Mass Effect with mods wouldn't work out to well because it is still a story driven experience. The problems though are nothing new to game design. It is the same age old problem of Sandbox vs Themepark. Do you have a sandbox game and allow players to do pretty much anything to flesh out the world or do you have a themepark game that curates and controls the players experience.

Even Witcher 3 has some of the same problems of Andromeda. A lot of side quests, and "map markers" are idle busy work. The stories of them are a little more interesting then those of Andromeda but they are not very rewarding outside of the story. People though love to use "grass is always greener" syndromes for games that reach that status.

[Mirishka]

http://www.vg247.com/2017/04/21/mass...is-generation/

Normally not much of a fan of their writers stuff but this hit a lot of points that I agree with on DA:I, and seems to echo many of the open world criticisms I've seen for ME:A.

Glad I'm not the only one seeing BW struggle to make the transition to current gen, I was concerned I was going nuts for a bit.

That's all well and good but its still just someone's opinion.

Losing their ability to shape characters to whom we become intimately connected? Can't say I agree as I felt plenty connected to both Inquisition and Andromeda's characters. Sara Ryder and the Tempest crew give me all the same feels as the Normandy bunch, and I say that as probably the biggest ME1-3 fan that I personally know. Oh, and I happened to enjoy a lot of those side quests that others think is 'padding.' There were a couple of 'obvs inspired by MMOs' quests in DAI that made me groan a little, but on the whole? I loved that game and played through it nearly 3x.

I accept that my positive opinion doesn't mean Bioware is infallible (they never were), but people who are down on the newer games should quit assuming that their opinion equals some vast problem lurking beneath the surface of a company. "They're losing their HEART! They've lost their way!"

Andromeda's got issues for sure, we've beat that horse to death already. But there's also lot of things it gets right. People are flailing that it doesn't live up to the original trilogy... but how was one game going to measure up to those three? We've only seen the Mass Effect 1 of Andromeda's story, not MEA2 or ME3. Hell we haven't even seen its DLC yet, and some of the OT's best content was DLC. Lair of the Shadow Broker, Citadel, etc.

I've loved Nintendo most of my life (started playing their games in the 80s). But I didn't love everything they put out, and still don't. They went through a stretch where most of their games were arguably shallow, short experiences that didn't please many folks (even the diehard fans of their stuff). People look at their kid-friendly games and underpowered, gimmicky consoles and say 'omg what is Nintendo thinking' 'Nintendo is dying' 'Nintendo will be the next Sega' etc, etc...

And then in 2017 they release Switch, which is selling like hotcakes. Oh and a little game called Legend of Zelda BOTW, which a lot of people believe might be the greatest game they've ever made.... if not the greatest game ever made.

Me personally? I don't think BOTW is the best thing ever. I was far more impressed with Horizon Zero Dawn, and even Andromeda with all its tired faces and funny Cora walks pulls me in more than the new Zelda does. I definitely see WHY people think its so great, but it just doesn't scratch my itches in the same way.

[Adam Jensen]

So I had a "fun" Silver match on my Salarian Infiltrator.

I knew it was going to be a fantastic game when the Soldier got killed multiple times . . . in Wave 1. On Silver. So I'm doing my thing, shooting mooks, energy draining when I get hit, tossing stickies when I can, running around reviving this soldier, going to the objectives, reviving the soldier again, while he's in chat complaining. Meanwhile the other two teammates are doing pretty bad as well, dying constantly (not nearly as much as the Soldier though.)

By the time we get to extraction this guy has somehow died about five times each wave. And by the last 20 seconds? I'm the only one left standing. And I'm like "screw this, they can stay on the ground" and instead of reviving them, I just danced around with my tactical cloak, kept my scrawny Salarian ass alive and was the only one to extract.

Like dude . . . how do you die 30+ times in a match?

Yet, somehow, he's #2 on the scoreboard at the end O.o

[Smitzelplix]

ME:A2 made by CDPR please

Please no, I would never finish it then. I've owned Witcher 3 since it first came out and I'm just now at Skellige on my first playthrough. I just can't stand playing Witcher 3 for more than a month or less at a time before I shelve it, but yet I've beaten Dragon Age Inquisition multiple times and have beaten Andromeda already with plans to do so again. It's the lack of traveling companions that makes me not able to really get invested in roaming around Witcher 3's world, having the companions of Bioware games or a custom voiced follower like Inigo for Skyrim just make the game more enjoyable for me by a huge margin. I'll beat the Witcher 3 someday, but probably not anytime soon.

[Mirishka]

Allowing players to add their own content in the form of mods really makes some games more amazing from Skyrim to TF2 or even Minecraft. It really seems something more games should be doing.

I've modded Bethesda games for 6 years, and for a long time I loved modding more than actual gaming. I agree that more games should be built with it in mind.

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Please no, I would never finish it then. I've owned Witcher 3 since it first came out and I'm just now at Skellige on my first playthrough. I just can't stand playing Witcher 3 for more than a month or less at a time before I shelve it, but yet I've beaten Dragon Age Inquisition multiple times and have beaten Andromeda already with plans to do so again. It's the lack of traveling companions that makes me not able to really get invested in roaming around Witcher 3's world, having the companions of Bioware games or a custom voiced follower like Inigo for Skyrim just make the game more enjoyable for me by a huge margin. I'll beat the Witcher 3 someday, but probably not anytime soon.

I agree with this. W3 is amazing, no doubt, but there's something missing... some intangible thing that I can't figure out, it just doesn't pull me in like Bioware games do. I've already played far more of Andromeda than W3, and like CK I've played through Inquisition multiple times.

And its a thing I've tried to put my finger on. I played around 40 hours of W3 and was blown away by the world/stories/characters, but when I stopped playing it I never felt any urge to come back. Still don't.

I even fired it up a few weeks ago to test my new graphics card and thought 'this game is just amazing' - took some screenshots, closed the game, haven't thought about it since (until this post).

[noidentity]

I am thoroughly enjoying this game, just wish my playtime was a little more than a few hours every few days but at the very least i'm enjoying my time.

Having a lot of fun wish backlash, especially after finding out it works on the mines the Architect throws at you haha.

[Adam Jensen]

I am thoroughly enjoying this game, just wish my playtime was a little more than a few hours every few days but at the very least i'm enjoying my time.

Having a lot of fun wish backlash, especially after finding out it works on the mines the Architect throws at you haha.

Yup. My Ryder is running with Charge and Backlash, with the third changing depending on what I'm fighting. It's awesome.

[Mirishka]

Yup. My Ryder is running with Charge and Backlash, with the third changing depending on what I'm fighting. It's awesome.

I haven't used backlash much, I play a very 'on the offensive' build. It sure sounds fun though, I might use it in my NG+ !

[zealo]

I haven't used backlash much, I play a very 'on the offensive' build. It sure sounds fun though, I might use it in my NG+ !

Backlash has it's uses early game, once you start stacking up defensive passives it loses it's usefulness compared to a more offensive build though imo.

[Jastall]

Backlash has it's uses early game, once you start stacking up defensive passives it loses it's usefulness compared to a more offensive build though imo.

Killing an Observer with its own laser never gets old, however.

Regardless of little sense it makes to redirect a laser with Biotics.

[PACOX]

...sigh...

Heads up on NG+.

If you respec your crew you'll lost their 6 point skills.

[Flaks]

that bit you added wasn't stating that Andromeda was an attempted copy of Skyrim... it was a suggestion that they should have built the game more like Skyrim.

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I'd say the modding resources is the first and foremost reason the game stands out so much. Elsewise, how does it compete with teh likes of Witcher and Dragon Age?

edit: I mean the mod scene is a source of near endless dlc and each dlc could be.... a single item or something like horse armor, OR Skywind. A whole game added in.

Skyrim is incredible even without mods and got the high praise it did from critics and players BEFORE any major mods were released. The whole "skyrim is only good with mods" is a scummy portion of PC master race's insignificant opinion.

[Adam Jensen]

Skyrim is incredible even without mods and got the high praise it did from critics and players BEFORE any major mods were released. The whole "skyrim is only good with mods" is a scummy portion of PC master race's insignificant opinion.

While I agree Vanilla Skyrim is great, there are a lot of mods that, in my opinion, made it even better.

[Mirishka]

Skyrim is incredible even without mods and got the high praise it did from critics and players BEFORE any major mods were released. The whole "skyrim is only good with mods" is a scummy portion of PC master race's insignificant opinion.

That's the attitude a lot of people have toward most all of their games. 'Fallout 3 is so much better with mods' 'NV is so much better with mods' 'Fallout 4 sucks but modders will fix it' etc etc.

[mickybrighteyes]

Skyrim is incredible even without mods and got the high praise it did from critics and players BEFORE any major mods were released. The whole "skyrim is only good with mods" is a scummy portion of PC master race's insignificant opinion.

I didn't say Skyrim is only good with mods... I said without the mods, Skyrim doesn't really stand out as much.

It wasn't the only open world adventure game unless you want to focus on the fact that everything in a room could be picked up and interacted with... which Elderscrolls and Fallout are probably the only games I can think of that make everything on the table an item you can take.

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That's the attitude a lot of people have toward most all of their games. 'Fallout 3 is so much better with mods' 'NV is so much better with mods' 'Fallout 4 sucks but modders will fix it' etc etc.

QFT.

All the games had issues similar to ME:A's face models and shit... modders clean that shit up FAST. This is why a game from 2011 has better face models than a game that came out last month.

[Mirishka]

All the games had issues similar to ME:A's face models and shit... modders clean that shit up FAST. This is why a game from 2011 has better face models than a game that came out last month.

Personally I disagree with this. The HD textures that some Skyrim race/character mods use are nice, but the meshes themselves are still lacking sorely in regards to geometry and animation. In that regard Skyrim wasn't cutting edge in 2011, much less 2017.

[mickybrighteyes]

Personally I disagree with this. The HD textures that some Skyrim race/character mods use are nice, but the meshes themselves are still lacking sorely in regards to geometry and animation. In that regard Skyrim wasn't cutting edge in 2011, much less 2017.

Was particularly taking a shot at the game this thread is formed on that came out last month >.>