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[Frozenprince]

Honestly I find the morality questions and decisions in this one to be better than any in the original three so far.

Like was said above me, there is no nuance in the old morality system. Because there is no grey option it's a complete binary choice. Are you a gleaning example of incorruptible virtue and goodness or a giant space asshole who's one step away from being a supervillain for no real reason.

There's no "this is the evil choice" in this I've found so far.

 

[hbkdx12]

Honestly I find the morality questions and decisions in this one to be better than any in the original three so far.

The decisions themselves feel tougher but I feel like there's very little, if any, in the moment ramifications of your decision

I'm assuming these decisions will play into the endgame in some way because they don't feel like they mean much in the moment.

 

[DeadlyParasite]

I've finished the game but before then I discovered the AVP is bugged. I hit lvl 20 and then I started getting more points but I have -3,000 AVP so I can't unlock anything else. Again, a silly bug overlooked because the game was rushed. Frustrating.

Not bugged, 20 is the cap. You're supposed to be limited on perks so that you're more diligent of the ones you pick.

 

[sangreal]

Not bugged, 20 is the cap. You're supposed to be limited on perks so that you're more diligent of the ones you pick.

that's not what they tell you in the game. When you first talk to the guy he says all pods will be released eventually but it is the order that you get to change

 

[Knuckle Sandwich]

I keep getting this fucking bug where I press Y to interact with an object or person and nothing happens. I have one now at a console I need to activate in order to advance the quest but nothing's happening. I have to load a previous save from a while ago to fix it.

Fucking annoying.

 

[Triz]

Just beat the game. Honestly It felt like a chore. I eventually said fuck it with side quests and just steam rolled through the main quest line. Im not happy with this one, who knew it would be worse than 3?

 

[ffejeromdiks]

I hope no reapers show up in this or any future ME games.

They've been done already, please let the OG trilogy just be its own thing and let this fly on its own without being tethered to anything.

Honestly I think

Spoiler

The quarian ark has Geth on it, that's the big "no don't come" thing.

Quarian squad mate or crew member next game plz bioware.

You just said you don't want Reapers to show up so that this trilogy can be it's own thing, only to turn around and wish for Geth to return, da fok?

 

[DeadlyParasite]

that's not what they tell you in the game. When you first talk to the guy he says all pods will be released eventually but it is the order that you get to change

"Eventually" in the narrative sense not the literal tense.

 

[Frozenprince]

You just said you don't want Reapers to show up so that this trilogy can be it's own thing, only to turn around and wish for Geth to return, da fok?

Well first off that was in spoilers for a reason.

Second I don't want them back, I'm assuming that's how they will be reintroduced because they are so popular.

And yes, not wanting the main villains of the last series to show up in order to tell a new narrative is different than eanting a race from the setting to show up.

Different things.

 

[Kalm]

Cooldown is reset after shockwave? how?

There's a fusion mod that resets all cooldowns after a kill. It adds 50% (or 25% with the perk) to normal cooldowns though.

 

[sangreal]

"Eventually" in the narrative sense not the literal tense.

sure, but the guy isn't part of the narrative -- he lilterally only exists to be a (somewhat) in-character tutorial for the AVP system.

I'm just saying, I can see why people wouldn't be expecting a cap. Why even have this as a question during the tutorial if the answer isn't related to the actual game? I reached the cap and didn't even notice -- there aren't any more pods I would even want

 

[bluecapsule]

ME has literally always been about binary choices. Jesus Shep and Dick Shep. ME has never been known for being morally ambiguous. In this case, I think you missed the point.

Spoiler

Killing Akksul was exactly what Akksul wanted. Jaal warned you that he was going to make you act irrationally. This wasn't about taking down Akksul but getting Jaal's family, which, regardless of the outcome, happens. Then it progresses to the bombs and finally the encounter with Akksul, which is a tertiary part to the entire quest. The quest is pretty much done at this point.

Jaal's going to remain loyal because his loyalty wasn't conditional on the fate of Akksul, it was his family. Jaal doesn't care about Akksul anymore than you do, but he knows what will happen if Ryder kills him.

The whole point was to get the player to either get provoked into firing or not and in that way it was well done. I'm guessing you acted and got pissed when the Angara didn't throw you a parade.

This isn't an example of bad writing. It makes total sense within the story that is being told and sets it up reasonable well. Oddly enough, your explanation highlights the moral ambiguity that you claim is lacking. It's a binary choice but not a clear right and wrong.

I don't agree with you on how it's presented in the game, and it's obvious we're not going to agree on it so I won't argue it.

However, I definitely disagree with your revisionist notion that the original ME trilogy didn't have morally ambiguous decisions. Do you cure the beleagured Krogans, or do you not risk unleashing their warlike nature upon the galaxy again? Do you kill the potentially innocent Rachni queen, or do you not risk the threat they represent? Geth vs. Quarian, Krogan vs. Salarian, etc, none of them were presented as binary choices. Your relationships with your companions all depended heavily upon these decisions you make, so much so that some of them will even try to kill you or commit suicide based upon your actions. Sure, Renegade often boiled down to Shepard being a dick, but it was usually in pursuit of some kind of nebulous greater good.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

However, I definitely disagree with your revisionist notion that the original ME trilogy didn't have morally ambiguous decisions. Do you cure the beleagured Krogans, or do you not risk unleashing their warlike nature upon the galaxy again? Do you kill the potentially innocent Rachni queen, or do you not risk the threat they represent? Geth vs. Quarian, Krogan vs. Salarian, etc, none of them were presented as binary choices. Your relationships with your companions all depended heavily upon these decisions you make, so much so that some of them will even try to kill you or commit suicide based upon your actions. Sure, Renegade often boiled down to Shepard being a dick, but it was usually in pursuit of some kind of nebulous greater good.

The problem is that the game never penalizes you for doing the morally right thing. If the Rachni turned out to be evil in ME3 and a major threat then maybe it would be a genuine dilemma. The Krogran thing is even worse because any eventual fate of the Krogans is beyond the series timeline so it's a meaningless choice as well.

Basically it's Give Peace a Chance. That will never steer you wrong.

 

[Frozenprince]

It morally ambiguous because the game tells you it is not because it actually is. The krogan choice in ME3 is laughable especially afterwards when certain characters "just can tell" if you betray them or not. There's no real weight behind them because they are all just distilled down to a number on a screen on your ship. Ultimately they all mean nothing other than choosing if you want to be an evil dick or a morally pure virtue machine. There's hardly any nuance presented with your choices especially once you yet to 3 and realize that the consequences of your actions was functionally the same no matter what.

 

[LNBL]

Well that's a new bug haha. Fell off a platform in the vault on elaaden and i got respawned in the Nomad inside the vault! Thought falling again would fix this, instead it made the nomad invisible, but still accessible ><

 

[Jocund]

The choices in the Original Trilogy wouldn't be so lame if the game didn't punish you for refusing to min-max the Paragon/Renegade meter.

 

[Frozenprince]

The choices in the Original Trilogy wouldn't be so lame if the game didn't punish you for refusing to min-max the Paragon/Renegade meter.

ME2 literally at the 11th hour forcing you to either have this (which was impossible to get unless you had the skill which buffed the %) or have a key party member (two of whom are VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NEXT GAME) die was the biggest pile of bullshit.

 

[Megasoum]

How does the life support thing actually works (when outside of the Nomad on a hostile planet)?

It's just a timer and you die when it gets to zero?

 

[Jocund]

ME2 literally at the 11th hour forcing you to either have this (which was impossible to get unless you had the skill which buffed the %) or have a key party member (two of whom are VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NEXT GAME) die was the biggest pile of bullshit.

Bruh I know exactly the part you're referencing. Real talk I just stared at the screen for a couple minutes, fucking fuming. Worst part was after I made my "choice" and checked my alignment meter. The thing was almost full-up renegade, and I still got fucked over.

I will take Dragon Age's/Andromeda's well-reasoned, role-play first approach to conversation systems over that outmoded bullshit any day.

 

[DeadlyParasite]

How does the life support thing actually works (when outside of the Nomad on a hostile planet)?

It's just a timer and you die when it gets to zero?

Your shields degrade, once those break you start losing health really fast and then you die.

 

[Frozenprince]

Bruh I know exactly the part you're referencing. Real talk I just stared at the screen for a couple minutes, fucking fuming. Worst part was after I made my "choice" and checked my alignment meter. The thing was almost full-up renegade, and I still got fucked over.

It's fucking infuriating. I had to reload a save like three loyalty missions back just to get the stupid meter like half a mm higher to que the response.

So so very glad the system is gone.

 

[Stalactite]

Vetra is very quickly turning into my favorite squadmate in this game. <3

First, while on Kadara

Spoiler

after the Hunting the Archon quest, she makes fun of Scott's weight telling him not to sit on some fragile crates.

Then I went and did

Spoiler

A Moment Planetside with her, and enjoyed the rock climbing cutscene. I didn't cheat and liked her reaction when she beat me.

Turians are the best.

 

[adamsapple]

OK, 30+ hrs, I think I'm about to head into the end game. Some musings.

The universe traversal can sometimes yield very pretty and colorful results but it's really .. really .. really not worth the slow tedium. I wish they add a press square to skip option for these.

Just like ME2 and 3, anything involving the squad mates is the best content in the game so far. The main story has been highly uninteresting so far.

When the game looks good, it looks very good. It's too bad the quality isn't anywhere near consistent all the time.

Other times random things happen which crack me up unintentionally ..

and finally, for the last hour or so I've started noticing these 2 arrows to the far left of the galaxy map, they're not pointing to any planet and even after reloading the game they're still there .. signaling the Quarian Ark maybe ?

 

[Vamphuntr]

Just beat the game. Honestly It felt like a chore. I eventually said fuck it with side quests and just steam rolled through the main quest line. Im not happy with this one, who knew it would be worse than 3?

This was my experience as well. Was really into it in the beginning and was able to ignore the bugs, animation, poor crafting and fetch quests. I felt the beginning and the end were the best part of the game and worthy of the ME name. Then the main part was a lot of pointless padding and I grew bored and started to run for the finish line. In a sense the more I played the worst it became.

Agreed. The whole point of the quest is to waste your time. So many elements and quest design seem so stupid and pointless. On a planet? Quest tells you to go to your ship to check your email. What does the email say? Go back to the planet and talk to the person who sent you that email. I've never played a modern RPG that has so little respect for my time.

This is my main negative for the game as well. Said this as soon as I beat it. This game simply stretches thing and becomes tedious for the sake of being a long game and often it feels really unrewarding.

 

[CrazyDude]

Vetra is very quickly turning into my favorite squadmate in this game. <3

First, while on Kadara

Spoiler

after the Hunting the Archon quest, she makes fun of Scott's weight telling him not to sit on some fragile crates.

Then I went and did

Spoiler

A Moment Planetside with her, and enjoyed the rock climbing cutscene. I didn't cheat and liked her reaction when she beat me.

Turians are the best.

Drack and her are my favorite.

 

[Madness]

It is their voice actors too that make them appealing. 'Hey Ryder...' but yeah, my faves are Drack, Vetra, and Jaal. Cora is the new waifu though.

 

[Frozenprince]

It is their voice actors too that make them appealing. 'Hey Ryder...' but yeah, my faves are Drack, Vetra, and Jaal. Cora is the new waifu though.

Honestly there really isn't a dud among the new main cast IMO. I hope they don't scrap all if them in the sequel.

 

[whassupbun]

Would appreciate some advice on the best build for single player. I have played ME1-3 but something feels different in ME:A. I'm playing as an adept at the moment, rolling with Pull + Lance + Throw, dropped some points into Singularity but haven't tested it yet. I'm doing okay/sometimes barely survive on Normal, and I feel like I might have dumped points into the wrong skills. Re-specing costs credits so I am hesitant to try out other classes/skills.

I'm in it for the story and just want a build that can pretty much steamroll through everything. Suggestion?

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Would appreciate some advice on the best build for single player. I have played ME1-3 but something feels different in ME:A. I'm playing as an adept at the moment, rolling with Pull + Lance + Throw, dropped some points into Singularity but haven't tested it yet. I'm doing okay/sometimes barely survive on Normal, and I feel like I might have dumped pointed into the wrong skills. Re-specing costs credits so I am hesitant to try out other classes/skills.

I'm in it for the story and just want a build that can pretty much steamroll through everything. Suggestion?

You want to pick 3 skills and put all your other points into passives across all trees. Max Biotics and Tech first then combat.

 

[Micromegas]

I keep getting this fucking bug where I press Y to interact with an object or person and nothing happens. I have one now at a console I need to activate in order to advance the quest but nothing's happening. I have to load a previous save from a while ago to fix it.

Fucking annoying.

Same on PS4. You just to keep moving closer and backing up until the prompt appears.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Honestly I find the morality questions and decisions in this one to be better than any in the original three so far.

Like was said above me, there is no nuance in the old morality system. Because there is no grey option it's a complete binary choice. Are you a gleaning example of incorruptible virtue and goodness or a giant space asshole who's one step away from being a supervillain for no real reason.

There's no "this is the evil choice" in this I've found so far.

Eh, I like the decisions in ME1-3 for their far reaching narrative implication rather than their immediate in-game result or even if they ever get expanded upon in the later games. Saving the Rachni is obviously the "good" thing to do, but what about in 50 years when they start reproducing and might go rouge? Same with curing the Krogan. I don't mind that we don't get to see that stuff, just that it's implied in the story.

So far in ME:A, all the decisions have been pretty basic. Save this person, or save these people. Let someone die, or

Spoiler

let a virus potential get out

. Build a science base or military base.

They're "grey" decisions, but they've been boring so far at this point in the story (I just rescued the Salarian ship). I just choose one because I have to, not because either of them is one I want to choose over the other. They might have ramifications for some characters short term (one race might be a little mad at you, or the enemy might be slightly stronger, but they don't feel like they're very far reaching decisions yet.

 

[SmartBase]

Honestly there really isn't a dud among the new main cast IMO. I hope they don't scrap all if them in the sequel.

We'll just get a bigger and better squad in the sequel only for them to be replaced by the original one in the third game.

 

[Stalactite]

The Non-Work-Related Email from Jaal. omg I'm dying

 

[Kwansu Dudes]

I'm having flashes of ME3-Ending where I thought it wasn't that bad with the extended cut because I had such low expectations and the amount of backlash it rightfully got. I'm enjoying the game so far despite the issues and it feels like Mass Effect to me. I wonder if my opinion will change in a few months once I've digested it fully.

Also, an announcement for a bug fixing plan is laughable.

 

[Amory]

Game is far from perfect, but it's still Mass Effect and I'm enjoying it.

The jank definitely seems more prevalent than in the original trilogy, that's the most annoying part. But I actually like the characters and story so far (approximately 6 hours in or so), and it's a very pretty game most of the time.

I really hope this isn't the end of the series

 

[aliengmr]

I don't agree with you on how it's presented in the game, and it's obvious we're not going to agree on it so I won't argue it.

However, I definitely disagree with your revisionist notion that the original ME trilogy didn't have morally ambiguous decisions. Do you cure the beleagured Krogans, or do you not risk unleashing their warlike nature upon the galaxy again? Do you kill the potentially innocent Rachni queen, or do you not risk the threat they represent? Geth vs. Quarian, Krogan vs. Salarian, etc, none of them were presented as binary choices. Your relationships with your companions all depended heavily upon these decisions you make, so much so that some of them will even try to kill you or commit suicide based upon your actions. Sure, Renegade often boiled down to Shepard being a dick, but it was usually in pursuit of some kind of nebulous greater good.

You mean like:

Spoiler

Do I make the snap decision to kill an xenophobic terrorist thereby proving him right or do I hold fast and trust what Jaal said about Akksul making us the bad guys.

Also, it's not a revisionist notion that Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3, were build on the Paragon/Renegade system. They waited until the end of ME3 to introduce the "green" option. Rachni queen: Kill or free. Krogan: Cure or not. Geth: Peace or war. That last one required a lot of binary decisions to be made in order to attain. In fact, in ME2 you had to commit fully to either paragon or renegade to keep both Tali and Legion's loyalty.

No one actually worries that the Krogan are going to go nuts and kill everyone when they are deciding to cure the genophage. Not once have we experienced the Krogan doing that. That choice just doesn't carry any weight. No one that shot Mordin in the back thought they were doing the right thing.

This isn't a bad thing, I rather liked it, but Mass Effect has never been morally ambiguous. Even ME:A isn't all morally ambiguous. The Kett aren't misunderstood, they are pure fucking evil. Mass Effect is like Star Wars, it only works if there is a mostly clear line between good and bad.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

The choices in the Original Trilogy wouldn't be so lame if the game didn't punish you for refusing to min-max the Paragon/Renegade meter.

I quite liked ME3's revision where it was combined into an overall reputation. Really wish that ME2 had taken that route.

 

[Grazzt]

There's a fusion mod that resets all cooldowns after a kill. It adds 50% (or 25% with the perk) to normal cooldowns though.

Ah thanks. I don't have it yet...

 

[Fatalmephisto]

Did anyone else get chills when the credit song kicked in? it fit perfectly in my opinion.

 

[Dany]

How far am I?

Spoiler

I am lvl 40, just completed the meridian mission and have to scan three zones or something that Suvi told me to do. I already boned Gil and have completed the loyalty missions of some characters but they keep wanting to hang out.

 

[Dany]

Yeah, i switched from being a pull/throw adept to a charge/shockwave person.

Also, what mod do you have on your shotgun?? I also currently have the 50% faster power recharge on my chest armor.

 

[Diancecht]

How far am I?

Spoiler

I am lvl 40, just completed the meridian mission and have to scan three zones or something that Suvi told me to do. I already boned Gil and have completed the loyalty missions of some characters but they keep wanting to hang out.

That's the last main mission.

 

[Coxy100]

Anyone managed to make an 'Adept' profile work?

I really wanted to go the singularity / pull / throw route but it doesn't seem to be working for me.

Tempted to respec to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPanrhO-0rg

Looks really powerful.

 

[TrutaS]

Finished the main quest, strong ending - but ultimately this was a disappointing experience. I played a total of 11 hours and I'm completely done with it - zero interest in exploring further. The whole premise was completely failed in my opinion. This should have been about discovering new planets, a bunch of alien civilisations - both civilised and not -- and maybe build a new society with all of them. It could have been about developing a relationship with all of them, and creating a new union.

That would have been good, not this single conflict with a bad guy that was entirely predictable, while exploring empty worlds with an uninteresting design - for my tastes at least- to build colonies with the same old species we know all about by now. I'm left very negative about this one, it didn't click for me, unfortunately.

 

[Jezehbell]

Finished the main quest, strong ending - but ultimately this was a disappointing experience. I played a total of 11 hours and I'm completely done with it - zero interest in exploring further. The whole premise was completely failed in my opinion. This should have been about discovering new planets, a bunch of alien civilisations - both civilised and not -- and maybe build a new society with all of them. It could have been about developing a relationship with all of them, and creating a new union.

That would have been good, not this single conflict with a bad guy that was entirely predictable, while exploring empty worlds with an uninteresting design - for my tastes at least- to build colonies with the same old species we know all about by now. I'm left very negative about this one, it didn't click for me, unfortunately.

I was only exploring the first planet at 11 hours. You missed the whole game, imo.

 

[Dany]

LOL. I just beat the game, made out with me romance and 2/3rds of the NPC's were in t-pose. How fucking perfect.

How perfect.

 

[GGNKovalski]

Finished the main quest, strong ending - but ultimately this was a disappointing experience. I played a total of 11 hours and I'm completely done with it - zero interest in exploring further. The whole premise was completely failed in my opinion. This should have been about discovering new planets, a bunch of alien civilisations - both civilised and not -- and maybe build a new society with all of them. It could have been about developing a relationship with all of them, and creating a new union.

That would have been good, not this single conflict with a bad guy that was entirely predictable, while exploring empty worlds with an uninteresting design - for my tastes at least- to build colonies with the same old species we know all about by now. I'm left very negative about this one, it didn't click for me, unfortunately.

11 hours and you beat the game? Jesus. For me, at 11 hours I was barley getting started on Eos. Did you stop and so anything other than the main story? You missed the entire game really.

 

[truestatic]

You just said you don't want Reapers to show up so that this trilogy can be it's own thing, only to turn around and wish for Geth to return, da fok?

Really not much of a head scratcher... Reapers are big bads. They by their presence make a game about them. Geth are potential enemies, potential friendlies, kind of an interesting race. We've already kind of plumbed most of their mysteries, but they're still a pretty unique group. They don't make the game any less its own thing than Asari. Or Krogan.

 

[Lime]

Really not much of a head scratcher... Reapers are big bads. They by their presence make a game about them. Geth are potential enemies, potential friendlies, kind of an interesting race. We've already kind of plumbed most of their mysteries, but they're still a pretty unique group. They don't make the game any less its own thing than Asari. Or Krogan.

The Geth are also one of the best sci-fi designs out there, so..

 

[TrutaS]

11 hours and you beat the game? Jesus. For me, at 11 hours I was barley getting started on Eos. Did you stop and so anything other than the main story? You missed the entire game really.

I tried to do a few other missions in the beginning, but it just didn't grab me. I got put into this world (Eos) and I didn't enjoy driving through it, there was nothing interesting to visit and see, I ended up just rushing through the missions. And that happened on all the other planets. I'm sorry, maybe it just wasn't for me - I usually struggle with open-worlds, they need to be very very tight in design (like the one in Horizon where I played 40 hours) for me not to have that "nope nope nope" feeling. Not bringing a discussion of Horizon vs Mass Effect, just using that as an example of a type of open-world I enjoy.