Booo!
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Mass Effect: Andromeda - Game Informer Details (Combat, story, more) [Up: All Info]
- Thread starter shinobi602
- Start date
- Status
Booo!
Aw.
shinobi602
Member
There was a certain flow to combat they wanted to achieve, so less pausing overall.
lucebuce12
Member
Doesn't sound appealing just from listening to it, but to be fair, I'm probably imagining something like ME3 only with real time commands and better graphics.
From the description, the combat seems considerably faster paced. The Jetpack, more melee options, more open combat spaces and more freedom to spec your character does imply that the pace of the combat would be faster.
Will wait for some proper gameplay footage before coming to any conclusions though.
BossDarkseid
Member
I like the sound of quite a lot of this. Considering the Nomad apparently has no weapons I'll be interested to see how the superbosses like that giant mecha-Sandwork from Dune works but it'll be fun to find out.
Lifejumper
Member
Aah man... no issuing biotic explosions anymore..
Why do you need pause for this?
BossDarkseid
Member
You can still do that though, I think?
Just have someone do a....Stasis then someone else do Warp?
I forget the combos
Lifejumper
Member
I thought it was pretty satifying queing the commands.
BioWare jettisoned the many great ideas and promises of ME1 rather than improving, iterating, and refining them for ME2 and ME3. That will always remain a sore spot for many of us. I'm personally excited for a new adventure in the ME universe, but a part of me will always lament what might have been regarding the original trilogy.
It's even more satisfying seeing it unfold in real-time without any pause.
This is something you've been able to do since ME1 anyway.
I'm very excited to hear about the changes to the dialogue/choice system and class system. Being locked into a specific role stinks sometimes. It's a staple in RPGs, sure, but when I started Skyrim LE the other week I had to take like 30 minutes to look up builds so I didn't "build my character wrong". Having the freedom now to pick dialogue options outside of "I have to go with the blue choice because I'm a Paragon character" and the flexibility of skilling Ryder to [theoretically] use bigger rifles with biotics, for example, will be much welcomed.
Two changes I didn't even know I wanted, but I'm very happy about. (And it's probably going to make going back and playing the previous games pretty painful after playing Andromeda.)
#1 most anticipated game this gen for me. By far.
Two changes I didn't even know I wanted, but I'm very happy about. (And it's probably going to make going back and playing the previous games pretty painful after playing Andromeda.
)#1 most anticipated game this gen for me. By far.
badcrumble
Member
It's easier to pull off ability combos with your teammates that way.
Complicated
Banned
This all sounds really really good. It's speculative to say, but it seems like they played Witcher 3 and learned quite a bit from it. This just became one of my most anticipated games, and I think I'll finally go finish Mass Effect 3 now that it's backwards compatible on XB1.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
You can basically pinpoint all the people ITT who never played the excellent ME3 MP
If there is one thing I trust the team that handled the MP in 3 to get right, it's the combat.
If there is one thing I trust the team that handled the MP in 3 to get right, it's the combat.
I hope BioWare and Bethesda both have extensively played TW3 and taken notes about what CDPR did right and wrong. Talk about open world game design defining title.
Just as long as Vanguard isn't too OP again. I was invincible with Charge spam lol.
Lifejumper
Member
AuthenticM
Member
I like everything that I am reading.
Poodlestrike
Banned
How's this work? Moving them around I understand, or picking targets, but what about specific powers?
I played a ton of ME3 multi, you only had to direct yourself in that, and you had a much more limited available powerset. I love the multiplayer, but it's not apples to apples.
Ivory Samoan
Gold Member
This is going to make insanity difficulty quite insane one would think: I like it!
Pretty much. It's fine for what it is but it would be kinda shitty if the entire single player was like that. I mean how many powers can an Adept even map now?
Colbert
Banned
I honestly think that they should have gone back to the formula of the first ME with more RPG elements and less TPS shooting gallery elements. One of the reasons I still think the first ME was the best of the three releases and the third one was the less appealing to me (not just for the ending).
Immediately hit me too.
DAMN it, EA. You ruined such a great thing. That immersion, that UI...
I might fire it back up.
I guess it's mostly console players who use pause in the original trilogy? As a PC player, having access to 8 shortcuts give me the luxury of putting like 4 Shepard powers and 2 for each squadmates, which is enough for me to rarely need to pause, unless it's one of those less used powers. So yeah, if Andromeda is real time for squad commands, it won't change much for me lol.
What does ME1 do more than ME3 when it comes to "RPG elements" really? All I can think of is having loot inventory and XP per kill maybe(rather than XP every checkpoints). Everything else is pretty much the same, except ME3 actually evolves your power, which is pretty cool, unlike ME1 which is just old school "lets put a lot of points for 1% increase in power each, with no customization whatsover".
What does ME1 do more than ME3 when it comes to "RPG elements" really? All I can think of is having loot inventory and XP per kill maybe(rather than XP every checkpoints). Everything else is pretty much the same, except ME3 actually evolves your power, which is pretty cool, unlike ME1 which is just old school "lets put a lot of points for 1% increase in power each, with no customization whatsover".
Initially it sounds like good changes. Will have to see overtime cause recent experiences with Bioware have not been good overall. Flashy graphics, but not good quality in writing, which is the most important aspect for me in an RPG.
I do wonder which classic races will be in the game. So far with 4 ships and 4 races and the articles so far it all sounds like Humans, Turians, Asari and Krogans are the participating ones. Though the back of the head on one character in a quick clip reminded me of a Salarian.
I do wonder which classic races will be in the game. So far with 4 ships and 4 races and the articles so far it all sounds like Humans, Turians, Asari and Krogans are the participating ones. Though the back of the head on one character in a quick clip reminded me of a Salarian.
shinobi602
Member
There are more RPG elements in this game than the other MEs though. More customization options from armor to weapons, crafting, greater emphasis on exploration and discovery and building your character to your playstyle. The series has always been a shooter first and foremost though, that was at the heart of the Mass Effect franchise from the very beginning and Bioware's goal. They're just now improving and refining the combat from Mass Effect 3 even further, which was the game's strongest aspect IMO.
There will be more than just four Milky Way races in Andromeda, as salarians and turians were both confirmed a while ago via twitter posts and the like.
However, I would reckon that we may not see any more than this. Although, BioWare is awesome (not biased at all <_<;
and I think we'll have, like, a singular hanar cameo or something. You know, one of the jellies who is a total rebel in hanarite society and wants to be as far from his or her peers as hanarly possible.I think the lasting GAF estimation of how "RPG" Andromeda is will end up having at least 80-90% to do with the depth of its conversational system.
Combat sure was a strong aspect, but it was no match for the running animations. Still good though.
I kinda disagree with this as playing Adept you could play most of ME3 without firing your actual pistol, sorta like ME1. There were ways of not playing the game like an actual shooter.
Magic Mushroom
Member
People are so used to shitty combat in western RPGs that's it's rare to come across one that's pretty damn good at it.
MadYarpen
Member
Well then there is the issue of what is RPG, but let's not go there.
Anyway, they can keep their customization and give me good C&C and good dialogues with no stupid cathegories of answers.
BUT! I don't care how much of an RPG it ends up being, I want the story and overall experience to be enjoyable.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
The assumption seems to be they removed the pause and didn't make changes to accommodate.
I'm willing to give them the benefit of a doubt until I see or play otherwise precisely because of Montreal's previous work on the MP.
Justice_Bolt
Member
I just preordered the deluxe version for PS4. Shut up and take my money!
Are there any gameplay/combat videos for this yet?
Colbert
Banned
Maybe its just me but I liked the fact that the shooting was so clunky in ME1 in the beginning of the game and later on you felt the progress by investing into those skills. As always those things are subjective a the persons point of view.
shinobi602
Member
Sure, you can play that way, but you're still blasting guys with things out of your hands. My point was that the series from its inception has been an RPG action shooter, that's straight from the horse's mouth. They've been trying to move to a more action oriented flow to combat and you can see that from the first game to the third. It doesn't mean they don't like tacticality, but again they want player choices in combat to happen more in real time.
anexanhume
Member
One thing I'm having trouble with is the supposed timeline we're being fed. The threat of the reapers seemed like a perfect catalyst for constructing an ark to a different galaxy. Yet, we are being told that this all occurs before the reaper threat is known. So, it seems logical to me that any of the previous Citadel inhabits would have done the same thing. So, this story better address that possibility and explain why they obviously failed. Because if the point is to create a link to the Milky Way, why isn't it there?
They also have to explain the mechanics they set up in the trilogy. Where are these arks getting all the eezo for 600 years? Which celestial bodies are the ships discharging to?
They also have to explain the mechanics they set up in the trilogy. Where are these arks getting all the eezo for 600 years? Which celestial bodies are the ships discharging to?
George Oscar Bluth II
Banned
Weren't squad powers mapped to the left and right d-pad buttons?
TheOfficeMut
Unconfirmed Member
Ugggggggggggh I so want to get this game but not before I play through Mass Effect 1 - 3, which I am only willing to do should it come to the PS4.
Are there rumors of a Mass Effect collection hitting PS4 ever?
Are there rumors of a Mass Effect collection hitting PS4 ever?
Suggestion of a remaster has been repeatedly raised and then dashed for years now. It is fast becoming its own meme. Knowing BioWare, a tertiary character in Andromeda will say something along the lines of, "I want to see why everyone started chanting Shepard's name in late 2183, but nobody I know is interested in reenacting those events. I'm out here across the universe and everybody wants to move on to the Next Big Thing."
I think you should definitely play the trilogy via other means, though, if at all possible. It's glorious.
Well it's hard to say without playing the game or getting a feel about the combat (because Bioware is being stingy about actually showing their game) but the closer you get to all actions being real time, the more the player loses out on the strategic/tactical side. There's less chance for the player to plan out certain action/scenarios and instead it's about the player reacting to those scenarios and executing. For example doing a Biotic Charge into a crowd, you could pull up the power wheel and figure out who you should hit first with a power and pretty much go from there. You can probably still theoretically do this but it's more incumbent on the player's execution rather than any sort of planning. There's a loss of power on the part of the player.
The lack of pausing obviously had to be done in multiplayer but for single player this reflects a somewhat unnecessary loss. For some classes, the lack of a power wheel won't mean shit like Soldier however this does significantly impact ones like Adept, Vanguard, and Engineer (to an extent). With those classes you could almost treat the game like it was turn-based, which was a fun option for the player.
It's also worth mentioning that if they're getting rid of the power wheel altogether than I'm not sure how many powers classes like Adept will even have access to now. Adepts had access to five powers and a grenade option. Are they going to try and map all five to the controller buttons? If not, then again this feels like a regression. Not to mention squad tactics is almost certainly going down the shitter.
The lack of pausing obviously had to be done in multiplayer but for single player this reflects a somewhat unnecessary loss. For some classes, the lack of a power wheel won't mean shit like Soldier however this does significantly impact ones like Adept, Vanguard, and Engineer (to an extent). With those classes you could almost treat the game like it was turn-based, which was a fun option for the player.
It's also worth mentioning that if they're getting rid of the power wheel altogether than I'm not sure how many powers classes like Adept will even have access to now. Adepts had access to five powers and a grenade option. Are they going to try and map all five to the controller buttons? If not, then again this feels like a regression. Not to mention squad tactics is almost certainly going down the shitter.
Remind me, but did any of the races ever reverse engineer mass relays? Also at time when these Arks were launched races didn't know about those few mega relays that had range tenfold of normal relays? Ones used to reach Collector system in ME2.
Because in order to create link between MW and Andromeda they would need to build a lots of mass relays along the way and then have ships hop from relay to relay, no? Or are they just assuming that once in Andromeda races will come up with some über tech never before seen and magically covers that distance making link practical to use?
anexanhume
Member
I've not seen a good explanation as to whether there were practical relay limits. I always asssumed their abundance was for convenience, not necessity. Similarly, I assumed the Reapers hung out at the edge of the galaxy, away from relays, to avoid accidental discovery.
- Status