That's not the point (for me)
The point is why have aliens left sudoku puzzles in their vaults? It's silly
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Mass Effect: Andromeda |OT| Ryders on the Storm
- Thread starter Blue Ninja
- Start date
The point is why have aliens left sudoku puzzles in their vaults? It's silly
I just got there, it's a great surprise.
I think its combat is one of the best in its genre, significantly better than The Witcher/Skyrim/Fallout. The only RPGs with better combat are Dragon's Dogma, Souls, and Horizon.
You can argue the genre has low standards, but I still think it's pretty good even outside of its genre. Maybe everything else around the game is making it feel worse than what it is. The world is pretty boring, the story and characters are forgetable (so far), exploration is unfun...etc
I like the look of the planet a lot. The sloane and Reyes story is great, but totally inconsequential.
Does the ending change based off the # of outposts you have or loyalty missions.
I stopped using cover after the first few missions. Totally unnecessary imo for the type of game I played it ass.
bati
Member
I wouldn't go that far, but the game does give impression that it was a rush job in the end. And it has some really outdated design philosophies.
There's also a stark difference between some planets and various aspects of the game. Voeld for example looks like shit, I honestly don't know how that made it into the game. Ele...something (I can't for the life of me remember the name of this planet) on the other hand looks great, the outposts and various structures really pop out. Still too big for its own good though.
And then we got Tempest which is really pleasant to navigate, much more than the Normandy in original trilogy. Granted there were memory limitations on consoles in the previous gen so the devs had to get creative, but still.
On the flip side, we got Kadara Port - again, no idea how this was greenlit. Same goes for Aya. I hate to use the current year meme but goddamn Bioware, it's fucking 2017, this shit can't fly anymore. These hubs would be fitting for a game that came out nearly 15 years ago (KOTOR), not an AAA game in 2017.
I gave you a good example . NPC interaction . How is that not lazy ?? Pleas tell me
bati
Member
There's a difference between running out of time or money, lack of experience and laziness.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
I feel like the Reaper's cycle of ME games will repeat itself. Like "We've decided with the second game to take a more linear, plot-based approach". And hopefully that will be the case, open world does not equal better game. ME2 is one of my all time favourites.
Now to wait for this to torpedo in price.
Now to wait for this to torpedo in price.
I can't believe , in a huge budget mass effect game , which is is story and NPC driven , this was allowed in .
Call it what you want , lazy , inexperience , money (ha) , it's just embarrassing for bioware
lucebuce12
Member
I like how even if you pick the same dialogue, both Ryders have different personalities. Doesn't feel like you're controlling a blank slate but rather an established character.
Also people referring to Ryder by her/his first name seems like it might not be that big of a deal but again, really makes some dialogue feel more organic and enhance that "established character" feeling.
Also people referring to Ryder by her/his first name seems like it might not be that big of a deal but again, really makes some dialogue feel more organic and enhance that "established character" feeling.
VenomousCoffee
Member
I was reading Brad Shoemaker's review a few minutes ago (and watching the video clip he included), and I'm wondering now just what game Shinobi was playing. Because it ain't the one that shipped.
I'm on the third major planet and it's really not even a narrative. I'd call it a situation.
I'm on the third major planet and it's really not even a narrative. I'd call it a situation.
Is Charge/Lance/Annihilation a viable build? I was rocking Pull and Throw, with just a grenade in my third slot, but I was getting kind of bored and wanted to be more explosive. What's the best way to play my new build and what sort of weapons and passives should I be looking at?
oneils
Member
Yeah, that's how I feel. The two avatars gimmick, I thought, would make replaying the game interesting. But I have no interest in replaying it. Having a hard time just finishing it once. I find the characters pretty dull.
prag16
Banned
Has anyone found ini tweaks or the like to change UI scaling or font size? Playing the PC version on my TV has been a bit of a challenge.. A little too much squinting.
Thanks for your totally-not-a-driveby-shitpost contribution to the OT.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I'm just so bipolar on the game. When it's hitting the right beats I'm so there. I really adore the combat, have zero issues with the auto cover, am pleased to see BioWare move towards larger encounter zones and greater mobility, etc. It's not perfect, like hit detection doesn't feel quite as consistently tight and satisfying as Mass Effect 3, and I find the enemy variety to be far, far less impressive than the aforementioned. But there's enough going on with the combat that encounters feel fucking amazing.
I love the bigger, more open planets. I love the sense of scale they can provide. I think they look gorgeous even in their stretches of emptiness. I love the Nomad; feels fucking awesome to drive around.
I adore most of the Tempest cast. They take quite awhile to get moving, but there's strong characterisation and emotional beats behind most of the cast. As they develop their connection to you they open up and are most believable, sentient creatures.
I like some of the questing. When it's touching on the sense of loneliness in being permanently disconnected from your original home, the alien mysteries of this new galaxy, and the more Andromeda Initiative specific mysteries (like the missing arks) I'm in all the way.
I try not to judge a game for what it's not, but really that's the core of my issues with Andromeda. What I wanted, what I think would have worked better, versus what we got. At the heart of this is my honest feelings that BioWare have massively unterutilised their own premise. The narrative seems so insistent to go out of its way to explore its own mysteries and potential uniqueness to instead hit the same thematic and concept beats as the trilogy and every other bloody scifi out there that it too often feels derivative of better work, including BioWare's own. There's not Citadel, and now not Omega, with not Blue Sons / other Omega gangs, and not Tuchanka conflicts, and not Normandy starship, and you play as the not Spectre / Space Jesus who again solves every problem in the galaxy. First contact with the Angara? Sorry, you're not. Mysterious uncharted alien worlds? Nope, full of aliens and/or outcasts who feel like they've been there for decades even though it's own been just over a year. Alone and cut off from the Milky Way and enveloped in disaster on all fronts? Let's lessen the impact by having the entire game take an unusually light hearted approach to interactions and emotional intensity.
The entire premise and themes to me feel tragically noncommittal to its own potential, which makes it hard to give a shit about anything as I feel I'm just developing old stories under a new template in a new galaxy that literally wouldn't even feel like one if characters weren't dropping "Andromeda" every now and then. The narrative bedrock is so comfortable and relaxed than the scope and impact of the Andromeda Initiative itself feels handwaved and secondary. I just find it so, so, so fucking hard to care about what's going on to so many characters and narrative threads. Not everything, not all characters, but too much of the game is thematically dull and disengaging for me. And it really shouldn't be.
It's subjective though. I can dig if people are really invested in BioWare's direction here, but yeah. I don't even think it's a talent/time/production issue or anything like that (even though I have issues related to those things warranting later discussion). It's that the chosen direction and narrative doesn't emotionally resonate with me. It echos a lot of how I felt with Mankind Divided: I love playing it, but I'm so disinterested in the entire premise and much of the cast that engaging with the narrative is too often a chore, and that damages the experience as a whole when narrative is crucial to the structure.
I love the bigger, more open planets. I love the sense of scale they can provide. I think they look gorgeous even in their stretches of emptiness. I love the Nomad; feels fucking awesome to drive around.
I adore most of the Tempest cast. They take quite awhile to get moving, but there's strong characterisation and emotional beats behind most of the cast. As they develop their connection to you they open up and are most believable, sentient creatures.
I like some of the questing. When it's touching on the sense of loneliness in being permanently disconnected from your original home, the alien mysteries of this new galaxy, and the more Andromeda Initiative specific mysteries (like the missing arks) I'm in all the way.
I try not to judge a game for what it's not, but really that's the core of my issues with Andromeda. What I wanted, what I think would have worked better, versus what we got. At the heart of this is my honest feelings that BioWare have massively unterutilised their own premise. The narrative seems so insistent to go out of its way to explore its own mysteries and potential uniqueness to instead hit the same thematic and concept beats as the trilogy and every other bloody scifi out there that it too often feels derivative of better work, including BioWare's own. There's not Citadel, and now not Omega, with not Blue Sons / other Omega gangs, and not Tuchanka conflicts, and not Normandy starship, and you play as the not Spectre / Space Jesus who again solves every problem in the galaxy. First contact with the Angara? Sorry, you're not. Mysterious uncharted alien worlds? Nope, full of aliens and/or outcasts who feel like they've been there for decades even though it's own been just over a year. Alone and cut off from the Milky Way and enveloped in disaster on all fronts? Let's lessen the impact by having the entire game take an unusually light hearted approach to interactions and emotional intensity.
The entire premise and themes to me feel tragically noncommittal to its own potential, which makes it hard to give a shit about anything as I feel I'm just developing old stories under a new template in a new galaxy that literally wouldn't even feel like one if characters weren't dropping "Andromeda" every now and then. The narrative bedrock is so comfortable and relaxed than the scope and impact of the Andromeda Initiative itself feels handwaved and secondary. I just find it so, so, so fucking hard to care about what's going on to so many characters and narrative threads. Not everything, not all characters, but too much of the game is thematically dull and disengaging for me. And it really shouldn't be.
It's subjective though. I can dig if people are really invested in BioWare's direction here, but yeah. I don't even think it's a talent/time/production issue or anything like that (even though I have issues related to those things warranting later discussion). It's that the chosen direction and narrative doesn't emotionally resonate with me. It echos a lot of how I felt with Mankind Divided: I love playing it, but I'm so disinterested in the entire premise and much of the cast that engaging with the narrative is too often a chore, and that damages the experience as a whole when narrative is crucial to the structure.
Only peasants do the puzzles
How the hell do you have so much credits? I'm lvl 40 with barely 25k, and I don't feel like i keep buying stuff all the time either. Is it because I tend to "deconstruct" all the worthless gear I find for materials rather than selling them?
Having a good time with it. But also I never played a mass effect game before so I didn't have any previous thoughts on the series. It has its flaws of course. Ending quests is just always super abrupt and not satisfying. Like oh, that's it. Just a small marker saying Exp gained.
Also crafting and looking for resources seems impossible. All the guns seem to require vanadium and I'm searching Eos and not finding any at all. And I only scavenged 1 kett weapon that I broke down
Also crafting and looking for resources seems impossible. All the guns seem to require vanadium and I'm searching Eos and not finding any at all. And I only scavenged 1 kett weapon that I broke down
There is a vendor in the Badlands of Kadara that will buy items from you at 100% full price, and sell them for 90% price. Meaning, that if you sell them a large amount of items, like a huge stack of materials that amount to 100,000 credits, then buy the same stack back from them at 90,000 credits then you just made an easy 10,000. Rinse and repeat. So if you wanted to you could get 500,000+ within a few minutes of doing this.
It's highly likely not to be intended, and I foresee the vendor's sell and buy prices to be patched pretty soon.
captainnapalm
Member
Yeah, EatChildren, the narrative and framework of Andromeda and the whole Pathfinder concept feels so contrived, and the structure of the narrative is so obviously subservient to the game's own internal open world structure.
But the crazy thing is, even though they've totally contrived everything, it hardly seems worth it, because the premise just isn't that strong. All those twists and contortions for what, really. Was it worth it to leave everything behind for Andromeda?
The Kett and Angara are also very generic compared to the various races created in the original trilogy, so they seem like a poor substitute for everything that's come before.
This game was fundamentally flawed in important ways right from the very get go. It's a shame because they had a blank page and this fairly extraordinary world and setting to work with.
But the crazy thing is, even though they've totally contrived everything, it hardly seems worth it, because the premise just isn't that strong. All those twists and contortions for what, really. Was it worth it to leave everything behind for Andromeda?
The Kett and Angara are also very generic compared to the various races created in the original trilogy, so they seem like a poor substitute for everything that's come before.
This game was fundamentally flawed in important ways right from the very get go. It's a shame because they had a blank page and this fairly extraordinary world and setting to work with.
Charge + Annihilation (w/ + Shields for everyone killed in it) + whatever you like will make you OP real quick. You'll have to bump up the difficulty to Hardcore/Insanity if you want any sort of challenge and even then, once you get a handle on how this build works, you'll become too OP even for those difficulties.
You can also get over a millions worth of resources you end up not using near the end of the game. To say I over collected would be an understatement, I think I mined every planet hollow and lay waste to all the animal population.
I was hoping for more, I was hoping to be able to find new/rare items to build, but you don't.
If anything I would say you really don't need to build stuff in this game at all, it's over-kill, even for Insanity.
I just did when I hit level 60/61, made a set of VII or whatever it was.
Everything you could ever want drops pretty much :|
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
The premise is arguably silly, but I don't feel it's the issue itself and they could have told a far more compelling story hitting its own unique narrative beats under the umbrella of the Andromeda Initiative. It's just a shame they didn't, and relied too heavily on derivative science fiction tropes. It's like they pushed too far ahead of themselves, not content with keeping the story of the Andromeda Initiative itself and the immediate challenges it faces upon arrival in a truly uncharted, alien world, and instead wanted to fast track the situation in Andromeda that would allow them to tell more familiar stories with established factions and leaderships, outposts and worlds, and comfortable conflicts.
If I'm going to armchair critique on how this could have worked, the game should have double downed on the risk of the initiative and the emotional claustrophobia of the setup; Hyperion arrives in Andromeda, there's the presence of the Scourge and disrupted habitats, zero contact with all the arks and the Nexus, with an emphasised sense of loneliness and survival. Don't rush into new species and ancient alien technology so quickly. The premise disconnects you from the Milky Way, open with disconnection from the Initiative itself, and explore the implications of that. Make the discovery of the Nexus and the arks major events. First contact with a sentient alien species a huge narrative milestone that comes at a surprise later in the narrative, not within the first 20 minutes. Scrap the Remnant tech; planets unpredictably hostile and lonely. Explore the blooming stress in the Hyperion crew due to the implications of being totally cut off and lost from everyone. Tell the story of the Initiative piecing itself together, through exploration of this totally uncharted galaxy.
EDIT: And as I've said before I think the absence of an omnipresent key narrative theme driving much of the story beats does a huge disservice to the production itself. Each game in the trilogy has one, even if execution varies. Mass Effect 3, flaws and all, always keeps the war at the forefront no matter where you go or what you're doing. It's the governing thematic device giving purpose to the hero, the supporting cast, the state of the galaxy, and the background ambience wherever you go and whatever you. Andromeda doesn't really have anything like that. Too relaxed, flowery, and scattered.
True, though I do like putting on a few of the augmentations on weapons and chest pieces. The Bio-Converter seems like one of the most OP augmentations you can place on a gun.
I do hope that the other augmentations that change to beams or electricity become buffed because that would be fun to experiment with too.
However, the amount of Research points required to "experiment" is way too high IMO. To just get a Level V item can cost 1,000 research points, and when you've been playing for dozens of hours and have 2,000 it doesn't seem like enough.
I also don't understand how I've yet to pick up a single Remnant weapon or armor. I'm say I'm over 50% in the game too.
everyday math
Banned
I didn't really notice at first, but you can only choose military or science outpost on Eos. Never again can you make that decision. I thought it would be on a planet by planet decision which sucks.
That sounds fucking amazing.
VenomousCoffee
Member
You know what would have been a great story? The tension between choosing military or science as your first base, carried all the way through. I'd love to play an RPG that delved deep into the politics of shaping your colonization of this new frontier (if you build all military bases, all science, or a mix, you have different abilities and the new alien contacts react to you differently, etc.).
But nope, we get Ancient Aliens and Space Hitler.
But nope, we get Ancient Aliens and Space Hitler.
captainnapalm
Member
I agree that the setting and framework had more potential than they were able to realize. It absolutely should have been treated more seriously and the general feeling of the game should have been less trite and familiar.
I do wonder if this isn't more evidence of the game's troubled development. There's a disconnect at times between the serious, high-minded concept of the game, and the execution which seems to want to be more relaxed and light-hearted. Seems to me it was originally intended to be a lot more serious, and at some point they started changing their approach. It makes for an uncomfortable mix at times.
I'm half way through the second planet, are there any major decisions that you get to make later? (Without spoilers).
So far, all the decisions have been trivial.
Ovek
7Member7
Hasn't every Bioware game ever had a banter "bug"... yeah don't hold your breath on it getting fixed.
Yes... but literally all of them are just set up for MA:A 2 which we might never get.
Been a huge fan of the series (arguably my favorite trilogy) since day one but after reading pages and pages with reviews and opinions here, I don't feel compelled to buy it just yet and this is so fucking sad... I would never expect to question myself over whether to buy a ME game or not.
Now I'm waiting for the 4th of April announcement to see if BioWare turns the tide or I'll just wait for a price drop. Again, I'm hugely disappointed.
Now I'm waiting for the 4th of April announcement to see if BioWare turns the tide or I'll just wait for a price drop. Again, I'm hugely disappointed.
The Greek Freak
Member
Yup, no matter how rushed or budget constrained the game was, there is no excuse for how hilariously bad the dialogue is throughout.
Been a huge fan of the series (arguably my favorite trilogy) since day one but after reading pages and pages with reviews and opinions here, I don't feel compelled to buy it just yet and this is so fucking sad... I would never expect to question myself over whether to buy a ME game or not.
Now I'm waiting for the 4th of April announcement to see if BioWare turns the tide or I'll just wait for a price drop. Again, I'm hugely disappointed.
Unless they rewrite and re record every character/mission etc fixing bugs does jack shit.
Even if the game was 1$ don't waste your time.
I feel like the games decision to make all of the worlds "ruined by the Scourge" is just a bad design decision.
Like I could be exploring lush vibrant zones (kind of like the great looking zones in Dragon Age Inquisition), but instead I'm spending my time riding the Nomad around almost barren planets with a few Kett outposts that all look exactly the same on them?
The only planet to make me stop and enjoy the scenery so far was Havarl, and even that wasn't too impressive. I just can't believe I'm playing a game with this much awesome potential and the environments are so boring and empty.
Like I could be exploring lush vibrant zones (kind of like the great looking zones in Dragon Age Inquisition), but instead I'm spending my time riding the Nomad around almost barren planets with a few Kett outposts that all look exactly the same on them?
The only planet to make me stop and enjoy the scenery so far was Havarl, and even that wasn't too impressive. I just can't believe I'm playing a game with this much awesome potential and the environments are so boring and empty.
Yeah, there should have been at least a Nomad Mod that combines both of these features into a single drive mode. Having to switch between 2 modes all the time is an other weird design decision.
MAX PAYMENT
Member
Do we know if the game sold well yet?
The only thing we know of so far is that it's the 3rd best selling game of the trilogy in the UK, and sold less than Horizon. That's not good considering that for all intents and purposes the original trilogy was console exclusive, and that Horizon is a PS4 exclusive whilst this gamew as on 3 platforms.
Saying that, UK charts don't count Origin sales (although they do count console digital sales), so its probably not done too bad but it's not setting the world on fire and its very, very unlikely to hit EAs targets for it.
Poodlestrike
Banned
That wasn't an additional 20%, that was 25% off the MSRP, which amounted to like 3 dollars off their existing price.
Unless there was another deal I'm forgetting about.
bonesmccoy
Banned
The negatives are exaggerated, greatly.
That's not to say it's a perfect game - there are many really odd design decisions that, early on, are extremely annoying. But the writing is fine. The animations are (generally) fine. The combat is by far the best in the series. And you do a lot of combat.
In terms of the story, I'm enjoying it more than ME1's.
Just finished the game after 71 hours, completion is at 94%. Need to do those final tasks to finish it all.
But damn that was a good adventure!
I disagree, I don't think the Angara are generic at all. The kett were okay, not anything special.
But damn that was a good adventure!
I disagree, I don't think the Angara are generic at all. The kett were okay, not anything special.
No, that is the biggest fallacy. There is nothing wrong with an empty world, in fact it is expected when you are trying to establish colonies and outposts or hunting down centuries old vaults. You can't really explore when there is radiation, 50 structures of Kett or Remnant every 30 feet, random animals etc.
Like EatChildren said, the biggest mistake the game makes is shelve the Initiative and story aside to get involved in other things. I would have loved to continue the feeling of being the underdog Pathfinder. Forgo getting to the Nexus until we establish an Outpost on Eos, and then we find the Arks first over other things.
It is what it is though. I just think half of what they talked about thematically was left behind. I would rather use the Tempest video call area to speak with the Nexus directors than have to go back to the Nexus. It is like that whole story is an after thought and you once again get caught up in stopping an ancient evil race who says we cannot comprehen, who are abducting or collecting aliens to transform them into something else etc.
They talked about how their sidequests this time are quality over quantity, how you will at least learn something. That was the wrong thought process. Because in the end, I don't really care because I am not as invested. It is one thing to do a loyalty mission, another to scan 10 things for some random who says thanks and I get a green check mark. I didn't learn anything, it was boring, and made me want to turn the game off after.
Ryzaki009
Member
Look I'm playing this game to shoot things and bang aliens not to play sudoku.
His granddaughter's children. It's a really cute scene.