Mass Effect: Andromeda - EA/Origin Access trial coming March 16th - 10 hour trial
- Thread starter Theorry
- Start date
Ryo Hazuki
Member
Holy shit. HOLY SHIT. I closed the fucking game three hours ago on PC. The game closed as normal. Nothing in my taskbar. Went to close Origin like 3 hours later and I couldn't close it because it gave the error message that MASS EFFECT WAS STILL RUNNING. The trial timer kept going and I just lost three hours of trial time. :| FUCK.
It's OK to admit that others don't share your opinions.
For me it's completely unplayable due to the lag, I've tried several times to get a game going and it's just broken. Seems to be hitting other people but not everyone, so maybe it's kinder to certain network types? Not really sure, but it needs a patch before it's ready to go.
If you're planning on buying for the MP, I say give it a couple weeks first and see how well the fixes take.
The opening of The Last of Us is a masterclass in how to make the player feel strong emotions in very little time. It's not impossible it just takes good writing, performance and direction. Andromeda fails to give anything emotion weight in its opening hours, in my opinion, let alone to what appears to be its central relationship (the Ryder family).
The way it's presented just makes me wonder why have a twin and father in the first place, when they're utility to the story seems minimal.
See above.
The way it's presented just makes me wonder why have a twin and father in the first place, when they're utility to the story seems minimal.
See above.
midasmulligan
Member
Gotta be honest, I was nervous hearing the feedback. Played about 3 hours, and I think I'm going to love it. Plus, runs at ultra on my 1060 MSI laptop like a fricking charm!
Not every game introduction is required to provide "the feels" for the user. The beginning of Andromeda is used to set up the rest of the game. There's even a side mission on the Nexus intended to flesh out the Ryders' relationship and past.
A game which opens with
someone's close family member dying
See my latest post.
Pops Maellard
Member
K but it doesn't make you care at all about any of it. In fact it made me less invested in the world and characters than I was before playing it. I don't expect every game to supply "the feels" in the opening, but it shouldn't make me care even less than I already do.
Any part of the game is an important part (especially the beginning) when it comes to
killing off a
Hearing about all of the problems people are finding with the presentation is reminding me of Mass Effect 3: Omega DLC. It was also made by the Montreal team and had really significant problems in animation, story, level layout, and even voice acting.
It sounds like alot of that just carried over. Omega had some of the worst, flat story in a Mass Effect DLC to date, with paper thin characters that came and went with no fanfare, love, or attention. Aria T'Loak was really blandly written and voiced in it, despite being one of the big fan favorites of ME2 for being a strong, tough badass kingpin.
That dlc also had animation errors. There were bad rigs, cutscenes where they dropped audio or felt unfinished...there's a big speech Aria gives in the middle of the DLC where her model will spin around like they just didn't finish making it. The story of it and the new characters were incredibly weak and the voice acting was poor all around. The level design also felt really bland compared to the other games and the audio mixing on the new reaper creature felt like it was clipping.
The pinnacle moment of the DLC is one of the blandest parts of that whole game, with terrible animation. Watch it here and try to keep from spontaneously rotating in your chair.
> https://youtu.be/4eeaAkPyY0E
THIS was Montreal's first singleplayer release, I believe, and it looks like they learned nothing since then for this game. Hopefully the game's fun but I feel like I'm more likely to do a full trilogy replay of the first Mass Effect games than play this game any time soon...I'm looking forward to release to see if the rest of the game is as sloppy as this Early Access bit and the Omega DLC.
It sounds like alot of that just carried over. Omega had some of the worst, flat story in a Mass Effect DLC to date, with paper thin characters that came and went with no fanfare, love, or attention. Aria T'Loak was really blandly written and voiced in it, despite being one of the big fan favorites of ME2 for being a strong, tough badass kingpin.
That dlc also had animation errors. There were bad rigs, cutscenes where they dropped audio or felt unfinished...there's a big speech Aria gives in the middle of the DLC where her model will spin around like they just didn't finish making it. The story of it and the new characters were incredibly weak and the voice acting was poor all around. The level design also felt really bland compared to the other games and the audio mixing on the new reaper creature felt like it was clipping.
The pinnacle moment of the DLC is one of the blandest parts of that whole game, with terrible animation. Watch it here and try to keep from spontaneously rotating in your chair.
> https://youtu.be/4eeaAkPyY0E
THIS was Montreal's first singleplayer release, I believe, and it looks like they learned nothing since then for this game. Hopefully the game's fun but I feel like I'm more likely to do a full trilogy replay of the first Mass Effect games than play this game any time soon...I'm looking forward to release to see if the rest of the game is as sloppy as this Early Access bit and the Omega DLC.
So how would you have improved it? Honestly? What about it was poorly done?
Let me guess - you loved the opening of Fallout 4 as well.
I honestly think the game could've done with 20 mins or so of gameplay set BEFORE you actually leave for Andromeda. Give us a chance to learn about all the arks, the leadership, your father, your twin, the project itself so that when we fast forward 600 years and everything goes to shit, it actually means something. We're in a completely alien place and our loved ones are in danger, as it is we're dropped in (much like FFXV now that I think about it) and we're expected to care about all this stuff.
I'm pretty sure that's what the in-game side mission is meant to do. Recover locked memories and all that.
All of this just makes me think the Forbes article is right, lol.
So, everytime he swap the helmet, the unconscious would breath in the air with way to low oxygen level. Unless you suggest the father could swap the helmet and Close the airways of the son at the same time and swap the helmet fast enough
^ yeah but for the 5 seconds it takes him to put on the helmet and take a breath to hold and put it back on her.
Crash affects them both - both laying there, see's her just run out of breath gasping through a broken helmet and then lose consciousness as he's lying next to her and about to lose consciousness from the knockback, transfers his helmet to her as he fades to black.
Your game introduction needs to provide "the feels" when
your character's father is killed off.
OK, and how would that be shown?
Difference between a A tier and B(-) tier. (Edited a tad).
amiablepercy
Banned
The entitlement is crazy. You don't like it like LongMuck said then don't purchase the game. Don't work yourself into a meltdown. This was a small glimpse of a bigger picture and none of it is any worse than the trilogy that came before. So maybe your expectations might need to be recalibrated. It feels like Mass Effect through and through minor warts and all.
I mean, I still think you're nitpicking but whatever.
amiablepercy
Banned
This trial ending was the definition of a thirst case scenario.
InStrangerAeons
Member
The complaints about that scene makes no sense.
How long would it take for extraction? 10 minutes at the least?
You can't just constantly unseal a helmet, slam it on your noggin, take a breath, and unseal it and slam it on their noggin for ten minutes. Especially since your character's brief exposure nearly killed them in the first place.
You can't just constantly unseal a helmet, slam it on your noggin, take a breath, and unseal it and slam it on their noggin for ten minutes. Especially since your character's brief exposure nearly killed them in the first place.
To be fair, there were probably other ways to conjure up a similar end result that would've left fewer people questioning the possibility of alternate outcomes, but it kind of puts a magnifying glass over the whole tutorial mission and how rushed it feels.
You crash land, and everyone is obsessed with the floating rocks. You walk around for a while, get used to the controls, and then bam.
One of your crew dies. But there's no drama to this at all. Barely any attempt was made to create a connection with this person, so the player doesn't have any reason to care. Contrast this with Jenkins on Eden Prime, and his pre-mission characterization with Dr. Chakwas in ME1.
Also, you're basically ambassadors for the human race in a first contact situation. Having this first incident of hostility as the sole reason for retaliating against every Kett you see and starting a war with their entire people seems kind of petty for professionals. Civilian or not, the Pathfinder team probably went through pretty rigorous preparation for events like this and would've been well-aware of the risks involved, so their actions end up looking kind of juvenile.
The cocky one-liners in combat, especially that one bizarre quip from Liam ("I think I really pissed that one off! Maybe because I shot him in the face!"), only exacerbate what's going on, painting the crew as assholes, not victims. It's like that one photoshopped picture of Lara Croft's face superimposed over Rambo's body going "I can do this! I can do this!" Interestingly enough, Liam's also the one people complained about who goes overboard shooting the corpse.
Then your dad devises that plan to do a thing in the glowy tower because somehow he knows he'll be able to make everything better despite never setting foot on the planet or having experience with either Kett or Remnant tech as far as I'm aware (Pathfinder intuition? SAM's private data? It's possible I'm missing something again), and then that leaves you with the scene in question.
You could've had Alec being the one shot in cold blood during an act of diplomacy, him transferring Pathfinder status to Ryder who is half-passing out, half-making a mad dash to the Remant obelisk. This would've created at least some semblance of care about the character death, shown that Alec had no chance of survival, and cultivated some semblance of actual distaste for the Kett.
The rest of the crew could've been fending off Kett while Ryder makes it into the tower. Ryder reaches it, SAM takes over, Ryder is okay because SAM wasn't fully integrated yet or whatever handwaving space magic technical BS. Ryder blacks out and comes to on the Hyperion as the new Pathfinder.
You could've safely rounded up the crashlanded crew members and explored for a bit without waves of combat beforehand. One fight was all you'd need. It was a clumsily directed mission.
The rest of the crew could've been fending off Kett while Ryder makes it into the tower. Ryder reaches it, SAM takes over, Ryder is okay because SAM wasn't fully integrated yet or whatever handwaving space magic technical BS. Ryder blacks out and comes to on the Hyperion as the new Pathfinder.
You could've safely rounded up the crashlanded crew members and explored for a bit without waves of combat beforehand. One fight was all you'd need. It was a clumsily directed mission.
They learned NOTHING ?
The fuck are you talking about ?
They crafted their comedic skills. I haven't laughed that hard at any game in the past decade.
That's a testament to their talent.
amiablepercy
Banned
An absentee father having a brief moment of paternal obligation and sacrifice is a tried and true writing trope. He was purposefully played and dismissive and overly harsh to his kid and Clancy Brown played that well and throughout the opening mission, there was an arc to his behavior.
We're told after that he did it out of duty to the mission but in reality, he did it, at least in part, for his kid that he wasn't a really good or present father toward. It worked for me and I was touched.
We're told after that he did it out of duty to the mission but in reality, he did it, at least in part, for his kid that he wasn't a really good or present father toward. It worked for me and I was touched.
crazepharmacist
Member
Thought there was controller support on PC? My dualshock 4 isn't working. The only thing that works is the touch pad. The face button, triggers, etc, don't. Anyone else?
I don't think it has native dualshock 4 support. Use steam or some program to emulate an xbox one/xbox 360 controller
This entire post is the very definition of nitpicking.
I mean did want the entire plot of the video game explained to you in the prologue, too?
Sanctuary
Member
I found the best Sara
The compression of that picture makes her look like a mannequin. Still better than the default I guess, although she will probably still end up just as goofy looking when it comes to emoting.
Yeah, I think that would have been a great idea.
ultrazilla
Gold Member
Jamaro-thank you so much! It worked! My brother is really happy and that's what it's all about! Cheers!
Which is why you don't play as default scott ryder. You can make better looking characters than him with the presets. Just takes some effort.
I'd prefer not to be spoonfed context and prefer to let the game tell its story.
But you can always have your cliche flashback or expositional monologue.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Unlike Mass Effect 3's abrupt introduction to future Earth and the Reaper invasion, I actually liked Andromeda's abrupt beginning. It's likely due to religious exposure to all the pre-release media, like the Andromeda Initiative videos, already preparing me for the premise. I liked the punchiness of the game opening with the Ark Hyperion blasting out of space with the tagline "600 years later". There's something so cathartically instantaneous and direct about that as an introduction that I find really appealing. Like boom, here we are.
Agreed. I mean come on, this is Mass Effect. We know that there will be world-building and backstory galore. We don't need it all right away.
I think your suggestion is actually perfect. The kett quickly became 'the bad guys' and lost all mystique once you kill like fifty of them. The concept of travelling for 600 years only to be killed in cold blood millions of light years from home is pretty chilling, but that was wasted on that soldier.
Make the dad the one who gets executed, the all powerful pathfinder, and suddenly the kett are scary and his death has meaning.
Ignore the dude whose only contribution to the discussion is saying everyone's nitpicking, he clearly isn't interested in debate.
Literally nothing I mentioned had to do with adding more backstory, though. Or additional context. Or anything. I actually suggested taking stuff away.
amiablepercy
Banned
It's reasonable to think that there are some people who think that Bioware didn't kill off a close character poorly. This is just an endless loop. People have different opinions and tastes. I don't love or really get David Foster Wallace's works or style in general but it doesn't mean I'm oblivious to the notion other people love him. Jeeze, what is so hard about this.
I'm guessing you didn't like the geth intro in the original, then?
Literally nothing I mentioned had to do with adding more backstory, though. Or additional context. Or anything. I actually suggested taking stuff away.
"Then your dad devises that plan to do a thing in the glowy tower because somehow he knows he'll be able to make everything better despite never setting foot on the planet or having experience with either Kett or Remnant tech as far as I'm aware (Pathfinder intuition? SAM's private data? It's possible I'm missing something again), and then that leaves you with the scene in question."
Oh come on. We know that this will be explained in the game. There is no need to know this reasoning this early on.
Oh sorry. I'm not allowed to say that I think it's nitpicking.