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[cleveridea]

Wow its a nice steelbook case at Best Buy, you get for preordering the game

Took them half an hour to find it, they had only 3 spares (somehow they didn't put a sticker on it with my name and put on the pickup shelf) Luckily I got there as soon as they opened as its a really nice case and would have been upset if I couldnt get it

So ended up with regular case, and also the steelbook as a separate item. Looks really cool, similar style to ME2 and ME3 steelbooks (from CE's). They also got me the discount on the collector guide which is pretty big, for $20 (Guide is that price if bought with game). So thanks to the GCU card: PS4 game + steelbook + CE strategy guide came to $68 total.

 

[Poodlestrike]

Gutted to hear this - was really looking forward to multiplayer

Anyone got a positive experience of multiplayer?

I really enjoyed what I've played, barring some super laggy matches. It's definitely harder, and there's some balance problems, but that dude's complaints are super hyperbolic to me.

Yeah, Allison almost feels like she was made & written by some intern. "My face is tired" "What happened with ..........Pathfinder" "you're not Pathfinder until you pathfound something". Plus the emotionless face & ugly makeup... Thank god it's not always that bad.

The writing I think is getting brought down here by the presentation. It all tracks pretty well if they're building a character strung out and exhausted to the point of near incoherence, but the VA work is so flat and her face is so... her face that it doesn't come through.

Imagine if the "my face is tired" line had put strong emphasis on the word "face", so it basically becomes "I'm so worn down eve my face is tired." Writing holds up, but it can't stand alone.

 

[Zesh]

Has anyone completed the monoliths quest on Voeld? I'm on the third one (on the bottom right corner of the map), and I can't seem to find/reach the last glyph. I found two above ground, and it seems like the third one is above ground as well, but I can't find it anywhere.

Edit: Nevermind, just found it.

 

[Jobbs]

I tried again to make a custom Sarah that I liked, and I came up with something decent. A couple faces do have some possibilities.

..But then I started playing and the custom face just animates so much more poorly and with so much less nuance than the default Sarah (I know some people make fun of some isolated gifs, but overall she's not bad). I had to go back to default.

 

[semiconscious]

All the humans in this game are problematic though. Short dumpy bodies, big heads, crazy eyes with no detail, bad lip synching at times. I know it's been said, but what a shit show. Coming off the original trilogy it's such a comedown. I can only hope somebody manages to release at least an eye mod of some sort. But I guess we're stuck with most of it...

continue to get strong marionette vibes. &, yeah, the eyes are a big part of it. any screen captures where you can clearly see strings? ...

I tried again to make a custom Sarah that I liked, and I came up with something decent. A couple faces do have some possibilities.

..But then I started playing and the custom face just animates so much more poorly and with so much less nuance than the default Sarah (I know some people make fun of some isolated gifs, but overall she's not bad). I had to go back to default.

this seems to be a common problem, as well...

 

[xealo]

Some of these missions could really use some more frequent check points, although I enjoyed the challenge. Like 8+ long kett waves in a row without a single checkpoint on Insanity was quite something.

 

[Jellycrackers]

Gutted to hear this - was really looking forward to multiplayer

Anyone got a positive experience of multiplayer?

I've played about 6 hours of multiplayer in the trial and I absolutely loved it. It definitely does not feel like it's pushing the microtransactions to me. It's a little bit of a slow start doing bronze difficulty to get your characters up to par for silver and gold, but that'll be done as soon as you start getting nice gear and character upgrades.

Other than that, the combat is fantastic. Feels just like ME3, but with less weird clunkiness in the movement and covers system. The jump jet and dodging thrusters are great for mobility! You don't feel stuck to the floor like in the previous games. It really just feels like they took ME3 combat, and fixed the annoying parts about it.

I'm also really enjoying the single player. Just finished Eos. To me it has everything I expect from Mass Effect. Some cool characters and lots of background info to learn about them while building a relationship. Cute girls to flirt with while I save the galaxy. Really fun action. Pretty and cool scifi stuff to experience. A very interesting story setup (I love the mystery of the missing Arks). I feel like Captain Kirk!

 

[FrontalMonk]

Everyone claiming "'Mass Effect 3's multiplayer had 'X' so it should be no surprise that Andromeda also has 'X.'"

Did you all completely forget that Andromeda is a new beginning for new players to join in and experience the greatness of Mass Effect? So far I'm just feeling like a Freshman in High School being given a swirly from Mass Effect Trilogy seniors because I'm not used to the game's mechanics. Way to go on that one there, friends.

I mean, when you want to tell everyone here how shit the game is, and you essentially tell people who don't understand where you're coming from to fuck right off, what kind of reception were you expecting?

Had you reworded your line of questioning to something more along the lines of "well, as someone who hasn't played ME3 MP, tell me what I'm missing here" you would have gotten a better response.

The long and short of it is that ME3's MP was an unexpectedly fun mode that piled on a ton of free content well after the game's release and the microtransactions, while present (and were actually one of the first to do this kinda lootbox nonsense, so you can thank Bioware for seeing it in fucking everything since then) weren't truly all that necessary. You could do very well in MP without spending a dime, and many people (myself included) did just that.

When people are saying "ME3 had it, so obviously ME:A will have it", this is the mentality you're dealing with; a fanbase for a mode that had a ton of free content and microtransactions that were far more optional than most offerings available. When you say the game tries very quickly to funnel you towards spending money on Andromeda points, the words fall on deaf ears because it wasn't the case five years ago, and based on my experience with ME:A MP it doesn't seem to be the case here either. The problem I think people run into when new to MEMP is they want to save up credits for the biggest, most expensive pack, when in actuality the right play when you're starting out is to get a bunch of basic packs, which may not get you a ton of new guns, but are more likely to level up the guns you DO have, along with mods and consumables which make clearing bronze more likely/easier.

Snagret's post above mine is a pretty accurate description of how MEMP's progression is supposed to work. But, like most things with this game, it's communicated incredibly poorly.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Gutted to hear this - was really looking forward to multiplayer

Anyone got a positive experience of multiplayer?

I've had tons of fun in MP, as long as the host is close to me (I'm in NZ, the best have always been other Kiwis or Australians) the game is amazing.

It's when I link into SEA or Europe...it gets real dicey; rubber banding all over the show, random disconnections. They really have to fix the localisation of the game: once it's out for everyone (it's not even released here yet lol), I'm sure it'll be fine pop wise.

 

[HariKari]

Anyone got a positive experience of multiplayer?

If you get a good host then it's fun. The snap to cover system will dick you over a lot, but it's ME multiplayer.

this seems to be a common problem, as well...

Found the opposite to be true for the male Ryder. If you make a more square faced/jawed space marine looking guy, the animations look better.

 

[Orion514]

It's terrible. I'm having a hard time getting through the start of this tutorial section because of the framerate on the Pro.

At least give me a 1080p option.

Edit: My fans are going crazy too.

Okay, I have a PS4 Pro and this scares me. I now don't even want to open the game. Might just send it back to Amazon for a refund.

Is this a problem for every PS4 Pro user so far? I was sort of excited to play another Mass Effect, but if its sub par and then runs poorly on top of that I don't think I could take that and don't want to waste my money.

EDIT: How does Boost mode effect its performance, if at all?

 

[eot]

I tried again to make a custom Sarah that I liked, and I came up with something decent. A couple faces do have some possibilities.

..But then I started playing and the custom face just animates so much more poorly and with so much less nuance than the default Sarah (I know some people make fun of some isolated gifs, but overall she's not bad). I had to go back to default.

I don't mean to poop on your effort, but if that is decent then you've been staring at the character creator for too long.

 

[Kureizu]

The framerate on PS4 Pro is shit and makes aiming and shooting feel really bad.

This should be running at locked 30fps on the Pro, what a mess.

 

[Royal_Phalanx]

Think I managed to make a pretty Sara. Also infiltrator is amazing. Blowing heads off all day long.

 

[Jobbs]

I don't mean to poop on your effort, but if that is decent then you've been staring at the character creator for too long.

fair

 

[Future PhaZe]

This was not the game to play after Horizon and Uncharted 4 w/ 4k HDR on the pro.

My god Scott Ryders beard looks embarrassingly low res on whatever resolution (checkerboard?) this game is using on the pro

 

[Crossfire245]

Do people think the PC multiplayer community will last for a while?

If I got the game, I could get it on PC or PS4 Pro (I own an Xbox One as well but won't go with that version). I'd prefer PC since I could run the SP at a steady 60+ FPS, but I do like ME3 Multiplayer, and feel that PS4 MP might have a stronger community in the long run.

Can anyone (particularly someone who played ME3 MP on PC) comment?

 

[eliza0224]

Aaaand the game hasn't arrived in my country yet 😭 thursday with luck.... 😭

 

[nelsonroyale]

I tried again to make a custom Sarah that I liked, and I came up with something decent. A couple faces do have some possibilities.

..But then I started playing and the custom face just animates so much more poorly and with so much less nuance than the default Sarah (I know some people make fun of some isolated gifs, but overall she's not bad). I had to go back to default.

If that is a good face with the editor...oh boy

 

[Spl1nter]

Gutted to hear this - was really looking forward to multiplayer

Anyone got a positive experience of multiplayer?

It's me3 but with better combat. If you like me3 multiplayer you will like this. I don't know if you should really take the opinion of someone who cannot beat bronze. It's not an issue at all with the base weapons and kits. I think there are 2 out of 20+ that I have not completed and it was down to really bad teammates and play on my part.

 

[ironcreed]

This was not the game to play after Horizon and Uncharted 4 w/ 4k HDR on the pro.

My god Scott Ryders beard looks embarrassingly low res on whatever resolution (checkerboard?) this game is using on the pro

Yeah, the beards are spray paint for the most part. But a little goatee is not so bad, so that is what I went with:

I am happy with him. He actually turned out a lot better than some of my Shepherds, which is the sort of look I was going for.

 

[Madness]

BioWare's issue with this game is that they focused on big picture. Big picture made of little pictures. Too many variables. Can't hide behind statistics. Can't ignore new data.

I don't know. On the one hand, I am enjoying it. On the other hand, rather than feel ridiculously happy we have a next gen Mass Effect, I just notice things that didn't pan out. How there is no real cohesiveness. Little issues add up. Things like poor animations, poor cinematics, bugs and jank, shoddy UI, redundant loading screens, weak writing and character wheel choices, they got rid of Paragon and Renegade but didn't improve on the dialogue in anyway. I feel less connected to my ship and crew than ME2 despite them saying they will improve on it. The game feels like a regression in a lot of ways. Even the MP. What made ME3 MP so fun isn't there. It feels top much of a grind. There was a time I would jump into ME3 MP just by myself on even Gold and have a blast. Right now, even on Bronze it is a chore. Combat and cover feel off, enemies feel spammy, level design is near useless since enemies can just show up out of nowhere, you can't really use tactics to tunnel things like in ME3.

I am happy with the game, but it could have been so much more. EA will use this as an excuse to just shelve the series while they continue with star wars.

 

[sangreal]

BioWare's issue this game is that they focused on big picture. Big picture made of little pictures. Too many variables. Can't hide behind statistics. Can't ignore new data.

I understood that reference!

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Think I managed to make a pretty Sara. Also infiltrator is amazing. Blowing heads off all day long.

NIce 👍🏻

 

[MagusMaleficus]

EDIT: How does Boost mode effect its performance, if at all?

It doesn't. Boost only affects games that don't have a Pro-enabled patch. ME:A is Pro-enabled.

 

[JMY86]

Holy shit I love biotics! I just took out an outpost with one combo. I used pull on a outlaw raider then used throw to detonate the combo when Cora came in with a charge just as the combo primed and set off some explosive canisters and leveled the whole fucking place. That was glorious I kinda wish I was playing on console just then so I could have saved that moment of pure carnage.

 

[ironcreed]

Holy shit I love biotics! I just took out an outpost with one combo. I used pull on a outlaw raider then used throw to detonate the combo when Cora came in with a charge just as the combo primed and set off some explosive canisters and leveled the whole fucking place. That was glorious I kinda wish I was playing on console just then so I could have saved that moment of pure carnage.

Damn, that sounds amazing.

 

[Dubz]

Any tips for Mp? I barely played ME3 mp.

 

[Mar Nosso]

The problem isn't just the achievement, it's the picture you get when you put all of those things together. I mean, of course, straight guys will get more options, I was never expecting them not to, but there are so many things that just scream half-arsed afterthought and "gays are second-class citizens" here. We've got less than half the number of options that straight guys have, we don't have any squadmate option (who get significantly more exposition, dialogue, etc. than non-suadmates), we don't have any option with a unique face, all of the gay male sex scenes are apparently fade-to-black whereas quite a few of the others are fully animated and include nudity and they put an achievement in the game that everyone but gay males can get without switching to a different gender or orientation (which in and of itself wouldn't be a problem but the fact that only gay men are forced to do it makes it one).

I never took BioWare's SJW attitude seriously. Mainly because it felt forced. I suspect David Gaider introduced that way of thinking over there but it probably wasn't taken on board by everyone. And in some cases it seems to get in the way of telling cohesive stories. Moderation, honesty and common sense are key matters though and its lacking.

 

[Rellik]

If that is a good face with the editor...oh boy

The Asian female ones are fine, but that's like the only good one you can make on the female side.

 

[Garrett Hawke]

The Asian female ones are fine, but that's like the only good one you can make on the female side.

nah, one of the female black presets is really nice.

 

[nelsonroyale]

The Asian female ones are fine, but that's like the only good one you can make on the female side.

They look reasonable, but also pretty boring. Personally, if you can't make anything that is well sculpted (and I don't just mean 'pretty' to look at) I would just prefer to choose between a range of presets. I really think the system they have doesn't cut it. Even the good ones look boring or inhumanly ugly compared to most gaming protags. I found the system in the previous Mass Effect games and even Inquisition more acceptable.

Garrett Hawke: Right. The short haired black female (cornrows?) is just about the only character I have seen that looks decent. Not sure how she looks under the vagaries of the in game lighting system though...

 

[Spl1nter]

Any tips for Mp? I barely played ME3 mp.

The two objective waves should be done as fast as possible. Enemies spawn endlessly until they are completed. It's useless to fight unless it's clearing out the objective area.

 

[Vengal]

I'm sure they have their reasons as to why all the "space transition" screens are there.

It might be for load times.

It might be due to a lack of discussion around the player experience.

It's certainly not that there are zero excuses as to why it exists but I can't imagine many of us are going to like the actual reason.

...and I doubt Bioware would ever share the reason why at any rate. It's just one more really odd thing about the game.

The movie around the development cycle would prove entertaining.

Games that have you transition through a loading screen only to have to go into a menu then go-to another loading screen show a lack of foresight. It's been years since I played ME2 but was there loading screens for each planet to scan in a system?

A few things probably could ease this some.

1.) Getting on the tempest shouldn't immediately leave the planet. This would skip the leaving planet animation if you wanted to just talk to people on the ship or plot a jump.
2.) Allow you to plot tempest jumps from a menu on your omnitool if option 1 isn't possible. No point in loading into the tempest if your only plan is to jump to the Nexus.

This kind of crap drove me up the wall in Destiny.

 

[Snagret]

Do people think the PC multiplayer community will last for a while?

If I got the game, I could get it on PC or PS4 Pro (I own an Xbox One as well but won't go with that version). I'd prefer PC since I could run the SP at a steady 60+ FPS, but I do like ME3 Multiplayer, and feel that PS4 MP might have a stronger community in the long run.

Can anyone (particularly someone who played ME3 MP on PC) comment?

ME3 on PC still has an active community of players. As long as they give it the same post-launch support as 3, I'm sure you'll be able to find team mates relatively easily for the next several years.

 

[ironcreed]

The Asian female ones are fine, but that's like the only good one you can make on the female side.

Nah,you just have to fiddle with it. I customized my sis and think she came out great:

 

[Moonstone]

They look reasonable, but also pretty boring. Personally, if you can't make anything that is well sculpted (and I don't just mean 'pretty' to look at) I would just prefer to choose between a range of presets. I really think the system they have doesn't cut it. Even the good ones look boring or inhumanly ugly compared to most gaming protags. I found the system in the previous Mass Effect games and even Inquisition more acceptable.

Garrett Hawke: Right. The short haired black female (cornrows?) is just about the only character I have seen that looks decent. Not sure how she looks under the vagaries of the in game lighting system though...

The problem is that the locked the options - probably in order to have a similar look for Ryder familly.
You could get some decent cahrs if you could change eyebrows, eyetypes and so on.
Someone posted here that they spoke about a potential patch/update at a review event.

 

[Wind's Howling]

What is the general consensus so far from some GAF users who played the game for a few hours? Would I still enjoy it if I absolutely loved the Mass Effect franchise despite the obvious issues?

 

[matrixman92]

stretching out my remaining hour and a half of my trial till my copy gets here from amazon lol

 

[ironcreed]

What is the general consensus so far from some GAF users who played the game for a few hours? Would I still enjoy it if I absolutely loved the Mass Effect franchise despite the obvious issues?

I know I do. No weird glitches or anything so far either. It feels like a new Mass Effect with better gameplay.

 

[xeroborn55]

What is the general consensus so far from some GAF users who played the game for a few hours? Would I still enjoy it if I absolutely loved the Mass Effect franchise despite the obvious issues?

I think so. I certainly am enjoying it. The writing around the periphery is not good, but the main story seems cool and the combat/gameplay is the best in the series imo.

 

[Mossybrew]

This was not the game to play after Horizon and Uncharted 4 w/ 4k HDR on the pro.

This, for real. I just finished U4 recently and am still playing Horizon, and you just can't help but be disappointed here. Hair, animations, character creation in general, it all just feels so last-gen.

At any rate I only got 2 1/2 hours of play last night, it's gonna be a big game and I don't want to make any snap judgments but it's not really grabbing me yet.

 

[Yopis]

The framerate on PS4 Pro is shit and makes aiming and shooting feel really bad.

This should be running at locked 30fps on the Pro, what a mess.

Nooooo I was gonna pick this up at lunch today.

 

[witness]

This Pro situation just makes me want to put it right back in the mail to Amazon. I'll have a decision to make when I get home from work today...

 

[cjtiger300]

Some of the reviews say that Andromeda's writing is ho hum, is Horizon's better?

Honestly one of the best stories in a video game in recent memory. Ashley Burch does a fantastic job as Aloy as well. The combat is super polished. Guerilla really knocked this one out the park in my opinion. I'm excited to see what they do next with this franchise. It's hard to believe this is there first RPG.

All the being said, Mass Effect is a totally different type of game and scratches a different itch. Personally I would play Horizon first. If MEA bombs, you might be able to get it for less than full price soon.

 

[robotrock]

Has anyone managed to make a Shepard yet?

 

[Crossfire245]

ME3 on PC still has an active community of players. As long as they give it the same post-launch support as 3, I'm sure you'll be able to find team mates relatively easily for the next several years.

Thank you! Honestly, I usually stick to Single Player games for PC, so I had no idea regarding Mass Effect 3.

You just made my decision easy...PC it is!

 

[BroggieDoge]

Damn... I hope this is a situation where the people not having a great time are staying quiet. Reading all these impressions make me want to send back to Amazon when I get home.

 

[JarrodL]

The squadmates now don't use any gear at all, right? There's no point in saving up/not selling good weapons I know my Ryder will never use?

 

[Orion514]

This Pro situation just makes me want to put it right back in the mail to Amazon. I'll have a decision to make when I get home from work today...

I didn't even wait, I printed my return label right here at work. I'm not going to take chances with that crap. I'll just wait until later when I upgrade to my fancy new GTX 1080ti and play it on PC at 60 FPS. It will be cheap by that point I'm sure.

Speaking of which, I wonder how long it will take for them to mark this WAY down in price. Haha.