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Mass Effect: Andromeda


Happenstance

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I'll still get it launch day, assuming I can get to a store that sells it. If not, Saturday.

 

I just worry that it'll end up like a lot of other open world games that have been released recently (FF15, I'm looking at you specifically). There seems to be a few games that have disappointed me by feeling almost MMORPG-like, in that there's a tonne of quests that form the main "story", but they're all really shallow and not really related to each other. Dragon Age Inquisition was bad for this as , IIRC, you had to complete a bunch of dull side/fetch quests to gather enough influence to unlock the next story quest. For me, side quests should be just that: side quests. Not necessary to progress the plot, but a nice distraction or a tool to level up if needed between main quests.

 

FF15, Dragon Age Inquisition and Fallout 4 have all been open world RPGs that are massively disappointing and all for the same reasons: shallow, dull story missions and I worry ME:A will be the same. Aside from Witcher 3, I honestly can't remember the last open world RPG that I've enjoyed.

 

I'll still buy it though, as I really want to play a decent RPG and I loved the first 3.

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I'll still get it launch day, assuming I can get to a store that sells it. If not, Saturday.

 

I just worry that it'll end up like a lot of other open world games that have been released recently (FF15, I'm looking at you specifically). There seems to be a few games that have disappointed me by feeling almost MMORPG-like, in that there's a tonne of quests that form the main "story", but they're all really shallow and not really related to each other. Dragon Age Inquisition was bad for this as , IIRC, you had to complete a bunch of dull side/fetch quests to gather enough influence to unlock the next story quest. For me, side quests should be just that: side quests. Not necessary to progress the plot, but a nice distraction or a tool to level up if needed between main quests.

 

FF15, Dragon Age Inquisition and Fallout 4 have all been open world RPGs that are massively disappointing and all for the same reasons: shallow, dull story missions and I worry ME:A will be the same. Aside from Witcher 3, I honestly can't remember the last open world RPG that I've enjoyed.

 

I'll still buy it though, as I really want to play a decent RPG and I loved the first 3.

If you like good quests check out Horizon. :grin: Your post makes you a perfect fit.

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Watching some of the video reviews has dampened my anticipation for the game. I hadn't seen much of the actual gameplay bar the PS4 Pro unveiling footage and some very sparse bits here and there but seeing some of the stuff in the reviews has left me shocked that they've let the game go to market with some of the bugs or even just some of the generally shoddy/cringey looking dialogue sequences that they have.

 

I'll still be picking the game up but I'm not expecting to be blown away by the story or the characters, the latter of which was a big factor in why I loved the original trilogy. If it at least plays well which, from the sounds of things is the case, then it should alleviate some of the burden of the poor story/characters.

 

Mainly looking forward to trying the multiplayer on it as I was a big fan of what was there in ME3 and enjoyed mixing different skills and pulling off biotic and tech explosions. So hopefully the netcode is stable and that there's plenty of people playing as like ME3, if it clicks I can see myself dropping some serious time on that side of things.

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If you like good quests check out Horizon. :grin: Your post makes you a perfect fit.

 

I keep thinking about Horizon, but I just don't like the setting. Tribal stuff never really interested me. I probably will get it when I have less games to play, at which point it'll hopefully be cheaper. It's on my "to buy" list though.

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That a PC one? If so thats not exactly relegated to EA these days.

PC yeah, I assume the console versions get an actual CD.

It may be not, but this is the first game I've received that's just a code. That's not what constitutes a physical release for me. This has no added value over a download, none. I'm not putting an empty box on the shelf. And I don't pay full retail for download games.

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That's good to hear. Funny thing is, the original ME was a mess too. We seemed to give Bioware a bit more of a pass for it in the past but... that game played really janky. Bugs with face models, funny running animations, clunky controls, messy combat, broken physics on abilities... and yet I still absolutely loved it.

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The site you ordered from should have made it clear.

It's possible I've overlooked this (again, this is my first physical download code, so I'm not familiar with the trend), but I'm pretty sure I've pre-ordered long before this shit was mentioned in the description (it does now).

 

Another shitty thing is they didn't release a physical deluxe edition (which now isn't surprising anymore). There's no way I would've pre-ordered if I had known this.

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That's good to hear. Funny thing is, the original ME was a mess too. We seemed to give Bioware a bit more of a pass for it in the past but... that game played really janky. Bugs with face models, funny running animations, clunky controls, messy combat, broken physics on abilities... and yet I still absolutely loved it.

 

Thinking about it, the gifs and stuff prepared me for the "worst". I was expecting lots and lots of awful animation.

 

So far, I've get to encounter the "worst". Sure, there has been plenty of wonky animation, but nothing dreadful, so it hasn't bothered me at all.

 

People have complained about the pacing. I actually really like it. It's slow like the first Mass Effect, with lots of unknown. There are long sections in the hub areas, except that now you can run in them which is a big improvement. Not being able to run on the Citadel was a massive pain (especially in ME1 due to the big section on it at the start).

 

Also, while the new map is a is a bit slow, I absolutely love it and the new ship. It feels like the ship is actually moving around the galaxy instead of sitting in the middle of nowhere until you land on a planet.

 

And no long loading screens or lifts on the ship. Some doors can take a few seconds to open, but feels like a single "map".

 

In terms of dialogue, I also like how it's clear if you're flirting someone. No more accidentally romancing someone because you were being polite.

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I've definitely had some bugs while playing. Quite a few animation ones where its not enough to ruin the entire game but it does pull you out of a scene. Seeing my character walk like a gorilla was interesting. I've had a quest marker send me to a different area and then tell me to go straight back. Hearing all the other stories about bugs which aren't just animation based is a bit worrying. Not being able to complete quests, completed quests reappearing hours after you finished them, characters spawning in hours earlier in the game than they are supposed to with quest completion dialogue...

 

I expect I'll probably still enjoy it just because its Mass Effect but I think its terrible that the game was allowed to be released in this state.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've put in about 25 hours of play time on this so far and by and large, I'm enjoying the experience, though there have been some annoyances which have dampened the experience.

 

For the most part, I've had a relatively smooth experience playing though some of the glitches and performance issues have been rearing their ugly heads over the last couple of sessions and dragged the game down quite a bit to the point where I've switched it off. The performance in some areas is shocking as I had the game crawling at a snail's pace yesterday while in the middle of a firefight with my shots tracking behind the lagging enemies due to the stuttering and a couple of 'Mission Failed' messages as a result. I've also had invisible enemies on top of them spawning right in from of my character which has meant I couldn't get out of combat. That proved annoying as I was stuck for an hour or so unable to save (that included auto-saves) because the game thought I was still in a combat situation despite not being.

 

Things like that are ruining the game more so than the awkward animation. That's not bothering me as much as the stilted dialogue which is definitely giving me a slight Knights of the Old Republic feel to the proceedings. It just feels bland and lifeless and really doesn't come close to matching anything in the original trilogy so far.

 

Despite those issues and turning off in frustration a couple of times, it's gelling with me on that inquisitive level where I'm curious to see what the next planet has to offer. So, in that respect it feels very much like the original title. I'm enjoying the more slow paced nature of things and being able to go at it how you please once you land planet side on most planets. I've spent ages doing side quests on the first planet you go to before I've moved the narrative on to help the new race and it's been enjoyable just driving the nomad about exploring and seeing my first outpost developing and the politics at play there and back on the Nexus.

 

I will say that they really need to look at how they develop side quests because they're pretty rotten so far. Nothing has piqued my interest in that regard and it's a shame because some of it feels squandered. For instance, there's a side mission involving solving a murder that just feel hollow doing as you scan a bread crumb of items on the planet surface and it's put together by your A.I. Giving the player some active involvement would have seriously helped elevate this beyond making your decision on what to do at the end of the case. And that carries over to the rest of the side missions, there just doesn't seem to be much thought having gone into them. It feels like they've looked at what the Dragon Age: Inquisition team did and despite saying otherwise, followed that. It's probably one of the biggest things they need to address next time around as the likes of The Witcher 3 and Horizon have shown how side quests should be done.

 

As far as the gameplay goes, I'm not a fan of the scanning. I get why it's there, new and unfamiliar galaxy and all, but it's just laborious. The shooting is decent enough but doesn't feel as tight as it did in the 2nd or 3rd entries. I'm yet to go online to see how it compares in the multiplayer but going off of the single player, I'm not seeing it as being as on point. It just feels a little dated but then I'm struggling to think of 3rd person shooter recently that's really broken the mould and moved things up in this regard. We've seen subtle changes in the FPS genre but for TPSs, it seems to have plateaued and this game shows it. Even the inclusion of the jump jet feels tacked on, at least to me. I don't feel it needs to be there other than for allowing you to get back to cover quickly but even then, it doesn't feel as smooth as it needs to be.

 

I can see where some of the reviews are coming from as the game feels like an amalgamation of elements of Bioware's previous titles (the original Mass Effect, KotOR, Dragon Age: Inquisition) but it hasn't really coalesced as it should and it's not the standout classic that the original was. That being said, despite my grievances with the game, I am enjoying it. Exploring the unknown is exhilarating and meeting new races (ok, technically one and even that is a reuse of a Krogan concept from before the first game) is great. The added dialogue options to make things less black and white (sorry, blue and red) has amped up some of the political aspects and themes making some retreads of old issues from the original trilogy interesting again. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest pans out, though I am worried that it's all going to end rather predictably as there seems to be a few threads within the themes pointing in a certain direction that I'm not keen that they run along.

 

It's looking all too likely that, with the whole A.I. spin on things, that there's going to be a Cerberus link in there and I'm really hoping that's not the case.

 

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Easy Allies

* * * * *

Review

 

 

I think I'll be picking this up at a later date, when its been patched.

 

Also when I have a bit more time for a game like this.

 

Plus it'll likely be an Xbox One title for me.

 

I own the original games on the 360.

 

: peace:

 

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Even if they patch the bugs and weird animations it sounds like the game has bigger problems like the writing, characters and fetch quests. I don't think I'll pick this up to be honest - Mass Effect 2 was a great game but a lot of that was down to the way the story was structured and the characters.

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