Mass Effect: Andromeda

Originally posted by Nemesis X
Also should've kept the power wheel from previous games as well. Without it, no proper squad commands. You still point them where to go, yes, but you can't tell them to use specific powers anymore. It's all randomized. One of the most crucial components for strategic combat in Mass Effect gone. This on top of not being allowed to customize my squad outside of skills is making this experience my own Andromeda to explore. The direction Bioware is going with all this is ****ing bizarre and very unnecessary.

I'm somewhat enjoying it, but I can't help by feel I'd rather be playing ME2 again at the moment.

Originally posted by Nemesis X
But does it justify your teammates not having custom loadouts? The very least let me swap their default weapons.

I agree. They probably should of added squad loadouts.

I don't see it being a big deal for me though. In the first game, I always felt equipping squads to be entirely tedious. I remember spending hours going through all the weapons and then making sure each weapon had a mod. And it didn't help that each weapon and mod had different levels. I remember being pretty happy that that part was removed.

Personally, this main problem is the lack of polish within the entire game and the lack of incredible side missions. Most of the side missions are not that bad (I think reviewers were way overblown in that regard) however they do not compare to the standard Witcher 3 set.

I was enjoying the game but something clicked when combat became more natural for me. I was fighting through it but I went back to Eos and it just clicked. Now I'm enjoying it much more.

But in my opinion, I think Bioware should of gone full bore into the whole outpost thing and made that driving factor for gameplay. Of course, have the typical Bioware story/dialogue/characters but use all those small "tasks" that allows you to personally design/build settlements on these planets. Almost similar to Fallout 4 but it would actually make sense. I would be more inclined to do a "find water" task when it benefits my outpost instead of rewarding me with more XP.

I finished the game tonight. Overall I thought it was good. The flaws are pretty obvious - animations, bugs, inconsistent writing and so on, but I think it's a worthy addition to the series and I look forward to the next game.

With the reception this game's gotten it'll be interesting to see what direction they take the series in now. I do hope they continue the story started here as there's a lot of story threads that I think have great potential. And I really came to like most of the characters. Cora was probably the worst of the bunch for me. But as is tradition, the aliens were the best of the bunch. Especially Jaal. He was great and probably the best squadmate in the game. The way he juxtaposes strength with emotional vulnerability made for some really striking moments and really enhanced his depth. Hopefully many of them come back in the next game.

I know a lot of people didn't really care for the storyline in the main quest, and while it wasn't as strong as the OT, it offered enough to keep me invested and interested in what was going on. The Kett at first glance seem to be a pretty generic evil alien race, but there are hints about their society that makes them seem potentially much more interesting if they come back in the sequel. That's a common feeling throughout the story, there's a lot of things hinted at that could make for some really interesting stories in follow up games, but as it is in this one, it's a pretty by the numbers storyline. Effective, but there are no awe-inspiring moments like your initial confrontation with Sovereign or Vigil in the fist game. It's unfortunate because they had opportunities to offer something like that, but never really did. One moment I guess comes kind of close, but they don't really give enough information to really reveal anything too mind blowing. I got the impression that either they weren't really sure of where they wanted the story to go from here, or they were keeping it very close to their chest and saving such revelations for the next game.

I think the game's greatest achievement is probably Ryder. While I was initially put off by the inability to play an ******* type character, I think as a character he was probably superior to Shephard. Where as Shepard was already a well known super soldier type character, Ryder isn't. There's a lot of depth to him, and since he starts off as a green rookie with little experience, you see him grow a lot, and it offers a different type of opportunity to roleplay. He's a fun, likeable and interesting character, and the voice actor for guy Ryder did a great job.

I kinda think this game will end up being the Dragon Age 2 of the Mass Effect series. Gets reemed pretty badly upon release because of extremely high expectations, but will probably be looked upon more favorably in the future after patches come out to smooth the game out and once expectations of players are brought down a bit.

Originally posted by BackFire
I don't agree that they're all retreads, I think that's an oversimplification of them, boiling them down to stereotypes and than attacking those stereotypes. While it is definitely true that they don't really bring anything new to the lore, I don't think that's a necessity to being a good or interesting character. Like, is that why Garrus, Liara and Tali are so popular? I don't think so. People liked their personalities. And that's what I'm talking about here.

The characters in ME1 are all pretty bland and actually much more stereotypical than the characters in Andromeda. There's much more depth to them here, and they feel like people. I do think there is some uniqueness to them in their personalites, though. PeeBee acts really unique for an Asari, you compare her to Liara, but she really doesn't act like her at all. Much more irreverent and spunky, and kinda slutty. Drack does have some of Wrex in him, but he's much more playful from the start, much more grandfatherly than Wrex was. Vetra is also much softer than she seems at the start. Doesn't really have Garrus' personality at all. And not really a mercenary in the same way as Garrus, just got used to doing what she needed to do for money.

So if your benchmark for character quality is simply reflecting something wholly different in the Mass Effect universe, then these characters won't do it for you, but as far as depth, nuance and personality goes, they offer a lot more than the original squad in ME.

As far as RPG mechanics and character building, I'm much more engaged in growing and strengthening my character than I ever have been in the series before. I really like the freedom you have in leveling and developing the character, how you can change your playstyle whenever you want. It makes the already excellent combat even better because if you get bored of one playstyle you can change it without having to make a new character. Keeps it very fresh, and makes gaining a level more exciting and rewarding than it has been before in ME because you always have something new and interesting to put those points into when you level up.

I think it's perfectly fair to use Witcher 3 as a benchmark here because it upped the ante for this type of game. The disparity in review scores between this and Dragon Age Inquisition I feel is an example of this. Inquisition currently has a +15 score to this game on Metacritic, and I have real trouble believing that that's because this game is worse than Inq. I think it's better, but it's in the same ballpark. I think Witcher 3 coming out between both of their releases and changing people's expectations for games like this is what accounts for that discrepancy.

Also, holy shit why did Shepard get a boobjob in this game? And I'm not digging what appears to be a diminished interactivity in the dialogue at all. I had like three opportunities to use the dialogue wheel in the intro. Most of the time Shepard talked by herself. Does this change?

No, Shepard has a lot of auto dialogue in the game, much moreso than in the prior games. They also removed the 'neutral' option for dialogue options. It's definitely off putting at first. Kinda do get used to it, but yeah, not a good change.

Originally posted by BackFire
I finished the game tonight. Overall I thought it was good. The flaws are pretty obvious - animations, bugs, inconsistent writing and so on, but I think it's a worthy addition to the series and I look forward to the next game.

With the reception this game's gotten it'll be interesting to see what direction they take the series in now. I do hope they continue the story started here as there's a lot of story threads that I think have great potential. And I really came to like most of the characters. Cora was probably the worst of the bunch for me. But as is tradition, the aliens were the best of the bunch. Especially Jaal. He was great and probably the best squadmate in the game. The way he juxtaposes strength with emotional vulnerability made for some really striking moments and really enhanced his depth. Hopefully many of them come back in the next game.

I know a lot of people didn't really care for the storyline in the main quest, and while it wasn't as strong as the OT, it offered enough to keep me invested and interested in what was going on. The Kett at first glance seem to be a pretty generic evil alien race, but there are hints about their society that makes them seem potentially much more interesting if they come back in the sequel. That's a common feeling throughout the story, there's a lot of things hinted at that could make for some really interesting stories in follow up games, but as it is in this one, it's a pretty by the numbers storyline. Effective, but there are no awe-inspiring moments like your initial confrontation with Sovereign or Vigil in the fist game. It's unfortunate because they had opportunities to offer something like that, but never really did. One moment I guess comes kind of close, but they don't really give enough information to really reveal anything too mind blowing. I got the impression that either they weren't really sure of where they wanted the story to go from here, or they were keeping it very close to their chest and saving such revelations for the next game.

I think the game's greatest achievement is probably Ryder. While I was initially put off by the inability to play an ******* type character, I think as a character he was probably superior to Shephard. Where as Shepard was already a well known super soldier type character, Ryder isn't. There's a lot of depth to him, and since he starts off as a green rookie with little experience, you see him grow a lot, and it offers a different type of opportunity to roleplay. He's a fun, likeable and interesting character, and the voice actor for guy Ryder did a great job.

I kinda think this game will end up being the Dragon Age 2 of the Mass Effect series. Gets reemed pretty badly upon release because of extremely high expectations, but will probably be looked upon more favorably in the future after patches come out to smooth the game out and once expectations of players are brought down a bit.

I'm about 20% in but I would agree. I'm not sure if the vitriol for this game is based on outside factors (previous trilogy, EA hate) or if it's warranted. The game clearly has issues from an execution and design perspective but it's not nearly has bad as people think it is.

The characters are comparable to the original trilogy and the combat is a 100% better than anything the original trilogy had. The dialogue is on par with previous games which is actually impressive considering the amount of it. The story so far is weak compared to Mass Efect 1-3 but the setting makes up for it.

I think Dragon Age 2 is an apt comparison. They tried to do something different with the game but the execution wasn't there. In DA2, it was always strange that the city you inhibit never changed it's shape/look/feel for the 10 years you live in it. In Mass Effect Andromeda, it's the lack of interesting sidequests to explore these awesome planets and the lack of the impact for the story.

Originally posted by NemeBro
I disagree with pretty much everything you're saying, but I'll be fair and reserve my response until I play the game, which will be fairly soon. After I finally beat ME3 I'll get Andromeda. But I won't be giving the incompetents at Bioware any of my money. Thank God for CD Keys sites.

Also, holy shit why did Shepard get a boobjob in this game? And I'm not digging what appears to be a diminished interactivity in the dialogue at all. I had like three opportunities to use the dialogue wheel in the intro. Most of the time Shepard talked by herself. Does this change?

A bit. But you'll notice a distinct lack of "middle" options during the game.

Originally posted by Smasandian
The dialogue is on par with previous games

Yeah...let's just cherry pick 3 lines of dialogue out of 1,200 unique speaking parts.

Originally posted by NemeBro
YouTube video

Originally posted by Smasandian
Yeah...let's just cherry pick 3 lines of dialogue out of 1,200 unique speaking parts.

Keep in mind these aren't two throwaway characters from some side quest. This is the ****ing main female lead and one of her potential love interests. And their voice acting and dialogue is this bad.

YouTube video

I challenge you to watch this whole video and justify it.

For those who don't want to watch a twenty minute video:

YouTube video

Dunkey's review of the game, though I personally don't watch his videos because he's black.

Also, in ME3, though I'm still not sure I approve of removing so much of the dialogue options and making them less frequent, the interactions Shepard has with people, particularly her squad, feel more genuine and personal, which I like. I'm not sure if one has to do with the other.

You seem kind of weirdly invested in this game being bad.

Originally posted by Nephthys
You seem kind of weirdly invested in this game being bad.

Why wouldn't I be invested in how Bioware (or is it EA? Huehuehuehue) has ruined the newest sequel to one of my favorite games of all time? Why wouldn't I be invested in the massive potential the first two games set up being squandered with this game (and to an extent the third game, since the endings basically made it so that we will never get another game in the Milky Way galaxy)?

Because I think you'd probably still find a lot of the stuff you enjoy about the series if you let yourself look past the bad aspects. It just seems like you want the game to be bad.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Because I think you'd probably still find a lot of the stuff you enjoy about the series if you let yourself look past the bad aspects. It just seems like you want the game to be bad.

And combat.

The combat in this game is much better than previous trilogy.

Originally posted by Smasandian
And combat.

The combat in this game is much better than previous trilogy.

bottom line it someone please..

is this really a good game? has anyone actually solve it, and if so how long did it take you?

should i spend the money and play it

People play as a female? Odd.