Mass Effect: Andromeda

[Dubird 6,815]

The turret is pretty cool, was using that last night and it was super helpful!  Don't like that when I switch profiles it goes away, though.  I love the Overload/Lance combo, does some serious AOE damage when you level them both up, but I can't choose those and the turret since I always keep tactical cloak.  Ah well, I least I can swap out profiles on the fly, that's pretty handy!  I agree the cover system sucks.  I'm a sniper, and when I can't orient myself correctly in cover, it kinda throws my aim off.  But being able to craft a sniper rifle that does plasma damage is damn cool.  It limits my range, but I can one-shot things and it's awesome! 

I just finished the Kett stronghold on Eos, which was tough because I had trouble finding the damn alarm system to turn off.  I ended up cloaking and just running around until I found it.  And then, just when we had cleaned out most of it, one of the fuckers turned it back on!  The enemy AI is better than previous games, so it does take some rearranging of tactics, which is annoying and nice at the same time.  Nice because having to rethink things on the fly and switch out profiles makes combat much more interesting, but annoying in that sometimes I just want to clear the room and have it STAY cleared!  ><  Still, I'm slowly getting the hang of it, and at least it's not boring. 

The open world aspect is an issue for me.  Not that they put it in, it's fun to go exploring, but that's the issue.  I get distracted easily, and when I'm having fun scaring my teammates with my horrible Nomad driving and finding new things on the map, it keeps distracting me from the main quest.  And while it would be cool, I'm kinda glad they didn't put in a 'building settlements/home' aspect because then I'd never get things done! 

 

On 3/24/2017 at 7:16 PM, Strider Hiryu said:

http://www.vg247.com/2017/03/24/former-bioware-animator-explains-why-animations-in-mass-effect-andromeda-are-the-way-they-are/

The link above is a pretty interesting read. What I gathered from it (and this was a former Bioware employee) is that they were to lazy to go the extra mile and just prioritized what they thought players would see over what they wouldn't. Goes to show you even the best developers don't want to go the full 10 yards.

Yeah, I saw that too.  From what I get out of it, the development team didn't put in the extra time to actually smooth and correct the animations.  The potential is there, it just wasn't followed up on.  That's why I'm hoping they can release a patch later that fixes it.  It won't be anytime soon, but it would be nice to get decent animation that I'm gotten used to in the previous games.  And while ME1 had problems, at least the animations were less like mannequins and the eyes were much better.  Kinda sad that ME:A has taken such a huge step back in terms of an animation aspect that's critical to proper immersion.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Ugh, I just did that part last night, it doesn't help that the markers are so bad in this game. Half the time they don't place right, and placing a waypoint on it shows you how bad it's off when you get out of map. Once I hit both overrides, I had a hard time finding the damn console in the corner. No one turned the alarm back on though. 

I love sniping, hell it's the best way to beat architects. The Eos one was way easier than the one on Voeld. I guess I could have waited for the temp to rise there instead of dealing with cold hazard level 2... but then again its easier to survive cold hazard 2 than radiation lvl 2.

[Myk JL 1,731]

I've been addicted to replaying previous chapters & I only really have 3 thoughts.

1. The eye lids on my character (3rd default face) look weird when he blinks.
2. I've grown to hate Sodoku.
3. Vetra ♥

....

I haven't finished the game yet.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Out of curiosity, since I wasn't getting anywhere relationship wise with many characters. I looked up the possible combos, and they are extremely limited. I know the first 2 games didn't have many options, but I remember 3 having a lot of different potential relationships... I guess they didn't want to make everyone swing both ways, and the one person I felt I could endure a scene with without it looking weird isn't into guys.   But I don't think you'll ever get an answer on it so you could keep hoping for the options to prompt and waste your time.

Sqaud-wise I've been sticking with Jaal and Drack. Drack is probably my favorite character since Wrex. He's like a grumpy old grandpa that's a badass in a fight. Peebee is fun to talk to, but the rest of the characters are meh to me. Liam and Cora are kinda just there, and Vetra... eh I think Garrus' AI ruined Turians for me altogether, along with my view of them in the first game. I always sided with the Krogan on the genophage issue.

[Dubird 6,815]

Hey look, I found what the pupils in the character's eyes is made of! 

http://www.sciencealert.com/this-object-has-been-sprayed-with-the-world-s-blackest-pigment-and-it-s-freaking-us-out

 

I finished Haval last night and rather enjoyed it.  I liked the jungle, though the jumping to get anywhere got old fast.  I tend to move my mouse slightly and keep falling down!    Still, it was a really pretty place and felt alive.  Granted, the random animal/bug/whatever attacks was annoying, but it wasn't like they were put there just to fight, most of them had their own little thing they were doing and if you left them alone, they'd leave you alone.  That made it seem more alive to me; you had bugs that were just there and you had animals that would defend their territory.  I saw some of them fighting each other, not just my party.

Pretty place, 8/10, would colonize/set up outpost again.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I think the biggest problem this game has is pacing. I feel like this game had a different direction at one point and they changed it up late in the game to where there is a lot of unused areas.

After I finished this epic Angoran arc, its back to droning away at mindless side quests. This game lacks memorable NPCs like Aria, The Shadow Broker, The Reporter, The Illusive Man, Joker, etc. None of these people I do quests for make me care about them in one way or the other. I just spent a few hours working for an NPC that looks like your every day generic KOTOR NPC that would just say "hey" if you tried to interact with them on a random city street. Your choices seem to hold no weight, the renegade/paragon system being gone is a part of that, along with the influence trait that came a long with both sides. The other part is that there just isn't content written for it. I mean, go to this one planet and hear of this rival faction that's gaining traction against the ruling party... you briefly suggest maybe you could side with the underdogs, but in the end there is no choice that drastically changes the outcome of the game's story. In fact you never meet this rival party vying for power. Everything is too safe, there is nothing you can seem to do that will alter the course of a story and make it vastly different from another player's experience. One of the great things about ME1-3 was the conversations with friends and listening to how different their story went from mine. Even the most minor actions in a random side quest in the first game could change a lot in the last game.  I don't feel like this game has that.

More disappointing was that the main quest was so lack luster on the last planet I was on, I forgot that I even completed it at one point. For an open world game there is zero reason to explore outside your mission markers. Once you get the right cryo pods that mark all good caches on your map, you notice there is a lot of unused space that's not worth exploring... you might find some shitty weapon mod or something, but overall there is little reason to not be linear. Crafting gives you the best gear in the game because of augmentations. Even the highest level of gear purchased from a vendor doesn't have the extra stats you can develop yourself on the same tier item. You won't find some amazing weapon or armor piece out of a crate. I may have found one good sniper rifle I liked until I replaced it shortly after with a crafted one.

The Kett and the Archon are kinda just there. There was no development for them, and I feel no sense of urgency to stop them... and apparently neither does my crew with their lame ass loyalty quests they want to do. This game lacks grandiose feel of your character and other characters, and what is on the line overall. The combat, crafting, skill tree, and overall mechanics are superior to any other ME game, but the story it self has some issues right now. This game is an emotional roller coaster of "this is amazing" to "why am I even doing this?". Its not a bad game, but to me its no where near as good as the first 3 games.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I hear that. While I enjoyed Haval (still not done, still have to activate the third monolith) I feel there really wasn't much more to the planet then being a way station to gain the acceptance of the Angorans (don't get me wrong, I like them (mostly because they have the best sniper rilfe and best pistol in that game (yea I have the guide so I know all the stats for every weapon in the game)) but they're about the only redeeming thing this game has besides Drack (and honestly I love this grumpy old krogan to death)). I've also never felt like the Kett were a major threat like everyone in game seems to think they are and haven't since I first ran into them. They feel like the team couldn't come up with a better enemy so they cobbled together this species and The Scourge to act as the main antagonists (fuck The Collectors were better thought out then the Kett and more of a threat). I won't get started on the Remnant (they're a fun enemy to fight but I honestly feel they were just cobbled together and thrown in the game just so we could research some lost, technologically advanced civilization like we did the Prometheans in the first 3 games).

Honestly I'm pacing myself with this game. Like I said it's fun, I enjoy the freedom the new skill system gives us, and while I think the crafting could of been left out it's a nice addition to the game but honestly the game is kind of a dud. All show and very little substance is how I'm taking it. It's sad because we were given three amazing games (ok 2, I'm still not the biggest fan of ME2. The story was great but I'll forever hate it as the game that introduced this god damn thermal pack system we're stuck with now for our MW weapons) in this series and this one is all but a lackluster title. I know, new team give them a chance but I'm sick of giving tried and true studios chances when they release lackluster titles like this (yea, my seething hatred for how Bungie handled Destiny is kind seeping in here. Also look and Guerilla, they released a brand new IP and it's beyond amazing (yea I'm a Horizon fanboy, the game can't do no wrong in my eyes)).

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

As you said this is a different team that made this game, which makes me believe that the original is working on that new Star Wars IP. It would make sense to have your more seasoned team to do something that big.

Lackluster is becoming all too common from the bigger studios. Just look at DICE now. Its all about making money every Sept-Nov for publishers, they rush shit out and patch it constantly along the way. I think that breeds the mentality as well. "If we fuck it up, we'll patch it later" At least Destiny didn't have these jarring technical problems. Far away creatures shutter around, constant microfreezing when running into named areas or going too fast with the Nomad. Frame rate dips and texture popping is one thing, but locking up is just pathetic.

[Myk JL 1,731]

The Kett to me came off as grittier version of the Zin Empire from Saints Row 4.

But that's probably because I kept choosing Casual Dialogue when confronting The Archon.

And it probably didn't help I focused on Melee instead of guns.

At least the Nomad didn't become worthless.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

16 hours ago, DeathscytheX said:

Far away creatures shutter around, constant microfreezing when running into named areas or going too fast with the Nomad. Frame rate dips and texture popping is one thing, but locking up is just pathetic.

This pisses me off to no end. The Mako in the first game didn't have these issues so I for the love of me can't figure out why these issues exist, it's like the did an extremely poor job of optimizing the game in those instances. Nothing like cruising on Eos and all of a sudden the game freezes up for 20-30 seconds while it tries to load the area, gg BioWare.

[Dubird 6,815]

On 3/31/2017 at 3:24 PM, Strider Hiryu said:

This pisses me off to no end. The Mako in the first game didn't have these issues so I for the love of me can't figure out why these issues exist, it's like the did an extremely poor job of optimizing the game in those instances. Nothing like cruising on Eos and all of a sudden the game freezes up for 20-30 seconds while it tries to load the area, gg BioWare.

I've not had any issues with the Nomad.  I've been climbing mountains and launching it off the other side for a while now, to the horror of my crew.  They actually will make occasional comments on your driving.   No issues with loading areas, either.  Maybe it's my rig, I dunno, but the only problem I had was the reflections were very weird until I replaced my video card, now it's nice and smooth.  Looks much more like a ME game should look, creepy mannequin faces aside.

 

And I totally get what you're saying about the main story being kinda.....there.  I would normally have finished the main quest by now, but I've been distracted by exploring.  And, really, when I was down with dental work, I didn't really play any.  I don't feel the big urge to finish the story like I did the other ME games.  Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying it.  The settings look amazing and driving the Nomad is SO MUCH FUN!  But yeah, story-wise, it doesn't hold up.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

http://kotaku.com/mass-effect-andromeda-patch-claims-to-improve-lip-sync-1793995024?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

Looks like animation fixes are on the way.. a little too late for me. Once I beat this game, I doubt I'll run another playthrough.

[Dubird 6,815]

Considering I haven't finished it yet, I'm looking forward to the rest of the game with better facial animation.  At least, I hope better.  Still no quick save option, a direction that still seems very odd to me.  ><

 

"Improved logic, timing, and continuity for relationships and story arcs

Improved lip-sync and facial acting during conversations, including localized VO"

These I'm defiantly looking forward to.  Hopefully, a lot of things are smoothed out and story conversations will flow a little more naturally, rather than "hey I like you and want to flirt with you" type of dialogue being the first 'flirt' option.  ><

 

"Added option to skip autopilot sequences in the galaxy map"

THANK GOD.  While the transitions are beautiful and enjoyable to watch, it gets old FAST.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

So many lately seem to be shipping in a late beta stage. Fixes like these needing to patched makes the game sound unfinished and reinforces my personal ban on preordering games anymore.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

1 hour ago, Dubird said:

Still no quick save option, a direction that still seems very odd to me.  ><

 

 

You can save from the menu pretty fast, I guess it's a pc thing like a 1 button press  save you're looking for? 

[Myk JL 1,731]

1 hour ago, Dubird said:

"Improved logic, timing, and continuity for relationships and story arcs

I don't know what was wrong with how they originally did relationships. I was able to get my male Ryder with Vetra despite doing her loyalty mission after killing the archon.

1 hour ago, Dubird said:

Hopefully, a lot of things are smoothed out and story conversations will flow a little more naturally, rather than "hey I like you and want to flirt with you" type of dialogue being the first 'flirt' option.  ><

I think I only had that problem with non squad mates as I don't remember ever getting a flirt option with Cora.

1 hour ago, Sledgstone said:

So many lately seem to be shipping in a late beta stage. Fixes like these needing to patched makes the game sound unfinished and reinforces my personal ban on preordering games anymore.

I ended up shipping my male Ryder late because I thought the game had already decided that he would be shipped to Liam.... It freaked me out a lot as I prefer Liam to be in my friend zone.... I went through the rest of the main quest refusing to talk to anyone aboard The Tempest until I killed the archon.

2 minutes ago, DeathscytheX said:

You can save from the menu pretty fast, I guess it's a pc thing like a 1 button press  save you're looking for? 

I was able to do manual saves on the PS4.

[Dubird 6,815]

You can do manual saves, except during certain quests.  The issue is there's no quicksave key.  Usually, F5 makes a save without having to go through the menu.  Just a faster way to save right before you do something stupid/dangerous.

6 hours ago, Myk JL said:

I don't know what was wrong with how they originally did relationships. I was able to get my male Ryder with Vetra despite doing her loyalty mission after killing the archon.

 

The second actual conversation I had with Liam got the flirt option, and Ryder's dialogue is something like "I like you, we should get to know each other".  It was just awkward, like she was giving him the "do you like me yes/no' note from middle school.  I don't know about any of the other romances except Jaal, her dialogue with him is a bit better.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I can't ever leave the infiltrator profile. I love the cloak dodge and the seeing through walls. I got a Black Widow VI sniper rifle right now with a penetration mod that allows more than 50% damage though objects. I can pretty much snipe everyone in cover... at almost 800 dmg per shot, I def don't lose much and can still one shot head shot people. To make it even cheaper I have a N7 Valkyrie V with plasma seeker bolts. I can blind fire without aiming, or shoot to the side of any obstruction to hit the mark.... comes in handy for those damned remnant that put up a shield. I maxed that Remnant Peebee gave me, meh, what a waste of points... oh well. I went back the turret and got its flame thrower ability. It makes short work of those blue smoke field kett.

I finished up Drack's loyalty mission. Even though this is my least favorite ME game, he's by far my favorite character in any of them, dethroning Wrex. The bonus "mission" after you already unlock his max upgrade is great.  

When it comes down to it, the bigget problem with this game is planet viability. They took the equivalent of ME1's pointless mineral gathering, and ME2's planet scanning, and made it into some sick tangle of sidequests that dominate the game.... and are required. I got all the planets to 100% and it wasn't fun. It was redundant. This game is great when you're doing main quests or the big part of loyalty missions. I've done Vetra's, Drack's, and I'm near the end of Peebee's. I figured I'd do them all before I go to the final boss. The last part of Ryder's Family Secrets is pretty good when you unlock the final memory and encrypted log.

The paragon/renegade system needs to return if they ever make another game. Dialog is so stale, I often skip asking minor NPCs questions. It makes me yearn for those hilarious moments like when you kick a Hanar off the street for peacefully "preaching". Speaking of which, this game also lacks the humor that broke those serious overtones. From the poetry singing Korgan, to the terrible dance gags... that subtle humor is missing.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

After doing all the loyalty missions, I can say that Cora is the worst character in ME history. How obnoxious. I wanted to shoot her out of an airlock because she wouldn't shut up about her Asari training, and referring to a damn manual. I haven't used her since I got Drack and Jaal, and I'll never again. I never even talked to her really until I decided to do her mission. I already didn't like her when she was crying about the whole Pathfinder thing.

Mechanic-wise Vetra's was the best. Story-wise goes to Jaal. Peebee and Drack had the best real time event promt option.

I honestly think the crafting cap is kinda shit. I was able to craft a level 10 chest, but everything else caps at VI and then you have to gain 10 levels to craft the next tier. I doubt I'll be making it to level 100 before I beat this game. I'm at 52 right now.

Also, why the fuck do I have to wait for this game to "connect" at the main menu. If you don't wait 5-10 seconds for it to connect, you just get set to offline and you can't access your strike teams... so then you have to back out to the main menu and let it connect. What kind of shit programming is this? Why can't I just connect in game? If I suspend the app in rest mode, it reconnects online after saying "connection has been lost to EA servers".

The facial animation fixes are nice. There is still micro-freeze problems on Kadara. And why does the ship have so many loading issues? If I need to leave the bridge the door sometimes takes forever to open. When it does, sometimes the textures aren't fully loaded in? WTH? Why cant it load the whole ship in? Its smaller than a planet. This game has been really sloppy. If this was PS3/360 it could get a pass, but this is the next gen of consoles. If I was the big guy at Bioware, I'd be having a meeting with this team and smacking some heads around.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Beat it, last mission was pretty epic despite the first arc being a complete and unapologetic rip-off of Mass Effect 1. Overall the story was a mess. Wait until you can pick this up on Steam for $5.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

On 4/8/2017 at 7:23 PM, DeathscytheX said:

Overall the story was a mess. Wait until you can pick this up on Steam for $5.

Holy crap thats pretty scathing. Maybe by the time I get to the game future patches will make it amazing.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Aint no patches fixing the story. Not unless they go back and add a shit ton of voice lines, cutscenes, and missions. The villain was shit, which is sad, because he could have been great. It was more about execution. You focused more on another type of enemy the majority of the story who holds no hostility unless provoked. The game centered around planet viability too much, and yet didn't have many worlds. The side quests were redundant, an dialog wasn't placed very well to make it interesting. Driving around in the nomad got old, because it was the same old "drive here and scan this/fight this group of bandits/kett/rogues" Its like they tried to use the KOTOR 1 planet formula without interesting missions and stories to do while on them.

I count maybe 3 story altering decisions you could make, that were all the same via letting a NPC die/kill them or letting them live. There was nothing like previous ME games that had huge consequences... or to avoid spoilers for those games, I'll bring up Manaan from KOTOR 1. You could get banned from that planet altogether and never be able to visit it again, and you could kill various crew members via decisions you made in that game. There is nothing like that in this game. No one was in danger of dying. Its all too safe, no risk, bland dialogue. 

The game wasn't an abomination, or super terrible. It was just not as good as the previous 3 games. Slap a different label on it and maybe I'd have a different perspective. ME1-3 aren't perfect by any means either, but damn it was fun and had some memorable moments. 10 years from now, I couldn't tell you much about Andromeda... but I can recount even the smallest side quests in the original trilogy. The main character wasn't bad, but he had nothing to work with. 

[Myk JL 1,731]

At best if you didn't preorder MEA then I wouldn't recommend buying it until the MEA series is over & bundled on a console.

At worst.... Wait.... you actually buy games off of Origin?.... Don't do that. Instead wait for EA to put these into a Humble Bundle or free if they're desperate.

My gripes with MEA

1. On Elaaden there are Female Turians with male voices. Either this was a mistake. Or there is someone who is pushing for a Transgender perspective on a species that you could clearly tell which was which from the neck up. If it was the latter keep them away from telling you which is the male & female lion.
2. The inside of The Tempest when in space doesn't match the outside of The Tempest when you're doing missions.
3. I put the ancient AI with SAM. It disappeared on Meridian.
4. I feel pressured to stick with the default name if I start over from the very beginning as both my character's father & sister are on a first name basis. It would've been nice to have a selection of names to pick from instead of typing a new one in like what Fallout 4 has. Even better if I got to also choose my sibling's name.
5. I have had zero interest in its online multiplayer since I couldn't find where I could select a non-human race. And by extension have had zero interest in APEX.
6. I really hate Sudoku. I know I can look up the answers online or use decryption keys I can find & eventually can buy. But I'm getting sick of AAA games having flash games in them.
7. The whole waking up people from Cryo is mostly collecting rewards that should be automatically sent to you. Mine eventually broke with the times set at 45 minutes before I had to manually collect my rewards.
8. I never found the friendship option. It makes me think I have to choose love option I might get when I tend to ask questions then deny said love. Which seems pretty stupid because I don't go around nearly confessing love when I mean friendship.
9. Despite liking Liam's Loyalty mission both he & Cora were a waste of squad mate selections. At best one of those could've went to a Salarian.
10. Loyalty missions felt like they lacked that certain "Jack & Miranda" bond they could've had. Or any form of bond at all. I was really expecting to have Drack say something unique during Vetra's loyalty mission & vice versa. And I'm extremely upset that Cora didn't get overlooked for PeeBee during Cora's loyalty mission. I didn't even try to see if anything would've happened between Liam & Jaal during their loyalty missions.
11. Having only 2 text options to select from that would be either Emotional, Logical, Casual or professional. If only 2 options are available than these labels shouldn't apply. Because in these moments there is only one proper answer. I never wanted to be professional when it came to opening a door or talking to the gardener. But I had to. These should've only applied when there could've been 4 options.
12. The way female Angara usually stand with their tight shiny clothes for some weird reason remind me of blow up dolls. I don't know if that's me being weird or it just being weird. But it feels like a negative to me.
13. Feeling obligated to have Jaal with me when I'd prefer my squad mates to be Vetra & Drack.
14. The force fields that prevent you from leaving the area should've been environment damage instead. this would've turned Kadara into at least 1 island but would've been worth it. As force fields feel like they break a 4th wall.
15. Defeating an Architect the first time is awesome! Doing that more than once ruined how awesome it was.

I would've been more willing to over look most of my gripes under certain story changes.

1. Kadara is the 1st planet the Andromeda initiative has to settle on. Story wise as a result there are no Angara there. Sloane Kelly would be ruling from a former Kett base. If there are Angara buildings there, they're falling apart. If you choose Scientists your outpost is more likely to be attacked by The Kett. If you choose Military it is more likely to be attacked by The Outcast. I guess that also means The Collective doesn't exist in this story.
2. Instead of Jaal being part of The Tempest crew he is a part of your Sibling's Crew along with a female Angara. Story wise this would be due to the Angara not trusting the Andromeda initiative. This could lead to a squad of 6 every time you had to join forces. This could also make The Rokaar unnecessary.
3. With the exception of H-047c, the Andromeda initiative can't settle on anymore worlds. Even if that would mean other world maps being as big as Havarl. This would raise the tension between the Angara & the Andromeda initiative in 2 ways. The Angara believing that the Andromeda initiative is making bombs. And the humans being denied Habitat 7 after 600 years of sleep. (Plus all the other planets the other aliens wanted.)

This all being stated I'd still be willing to waste money on this preorder and future preorders for MEA.... So.... yeah.... Do as I say and not as I do.... Unless you're really into Female Turians.... In which case go Team Vetra?....

[Myk JL 1,731]

I found this a very interesting watch.

 

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

http://kotaku.com/sources-bioware-montreal-downsized-mass-effect-put-on-1795100285

Pretty much says it all.