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[Ivory Samoan]

I get it. Certain franchises are near and dear to us on a deeply personal level. Mass Effect is a big deal for a lot of people, particularly younger gamers (and I don't mean any disrespect by this, whatsoever). Similar to how a lot of us older gamers feel about Mario, Zelda, Halo, Final Fantasy, etc.

Suddenly I feel spritely and youthful at 36 as ME is my #1 franchise by a LONG way, and I care about it very deeply.

I'm seeing just as many good reviews as bad/scathing ones - divisive as it gets, but many are really enjoying the game despite it's many technical flaws (which seems to be the main sticking point, along with busy work by the sounds).

I'm all in, not looking for confirmation bias in any reviews: even some of the 60/100 reviews read like a game I still want to play, nothing wrong with that IMO.

 

[texhnolyze]

Horizon is a sci-fi RPG and it's on PS4.

Not in space. And the MC is a primitive.

 

[TI82]

I think there's a disconnect here where people expect a 3/5 to mean a bad game, clearly since everyone is (rightly) talking about how poor the metacritic score is, but you are still expecting a 4/5 to mean a great game.
Like it or not, that's not how reviews work, even if they should. If a 3/5 is a bad game, and he thinks the game is pretty fun, it's not a 3/5 for him.

Then there is a vast discrepancy between their reporting system or the person writing the review doesn't do the score because it doesn't add up.

Or maybe I'm a crazy person and the substance of his review is going right over my head? I dunno it's been a long day but something isn't adding up.

 

[vivekTO]

Eurogamer Italy
80

Mass Effect: Andromeda is an amazing journey into a brand new universe. It has some issues, but the overall experience is worth your money. The game is huge, deep and with a great storytelling. It just needs a few hours for taking off.

 

[DR2K]

Between this and Star Ocean bombing, we need a good space opera before the gen ends. Anything in development that would cover this niche?

 

[kadotsu]

Reading some of the reviews the core of all problems seems to be that the game fails to be a Bioware title. I would be able to deal with bugs and janky animations if the script flowed well and the story was top notch. This doesn't seem to be the case if most reviewers are to be believed.
I'm interested what this game will become post launch and I will keep an eye on it but this doesn't seem to be a buy for me right now, especially with P5 around the corner and many great games from this year in the backlog.

 

[Darkstorne]

Oh god, everything, EVERYTHING, I hate about Bioware's writing (when it's bad) is here.

Yeah, majority of reviews are praising gameplay but slamming the story, dialogue, and generally shitty writing quality. It's the biggest concern I had after the trial, where Ryder's science role is perfectly captured through gameplay: scanning providing lore right there in the game rather than added to a codex menu most of us will never read, and adding research points and resources to fold into crafting.

BUT

Then I have a sit-com level conversation with Suvi about her science paper on Eos, that Ryder ridicules for being 60 pages long, which Suvi thinks is a comment on 60 pages not being long enough for a science paper (haha), but she promises to email me a copy and Ryder acts all awkward about that idea (hahaha), and then the climax of the joke is the email system on board this science and exploration ship thinks an email containing a science paper must be spam so quarantines it! (HAHAHAhahaaaa...haaaaaaaaaa...aaaaa...) I swear to god I could hear the canned laughter all the way through that exchange. Like a bad episode of the Big Bang Theory. Seriously shit writing quality that even undermines the story the game is trying to tell.

 

[kuroshiki]

That's not how motion capture works, you still have to do a ton of manual animation

Then the people who did manual animation did absolutely shitastic job.

 

[amiablepercy]

Selling well isn't the only goal. You need people to enjoy the product and have them want to come back for more.

Game has some very positive reviews. A lot of people enjoyed the product a lot of people will enjoy.

 

[fastballspecial]

Yikes. These scores are all over the damn place. Not so sure I wanna keep my copy when it shows up Tuesday.

 

[Big Green Anus]

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-wildlands

wildlands reviewed fairly similar and sold well didnt it?..wonder if EA's marketing can stop this being a financial disaster?

To be fair, Wildlands whole game is coop online, so Ubisoft has more flexibility with the marketing for Wildlands compared to Mass Effect which is marketed for it's story and single player experience.

 

[spekkeh]

Fascinating how divisive this is, by definition. Beyond the scores, the actual substance in these reviews is so widely varied in preference. We have reviews praising the combat and moment-to-moment game design, lamenting the loss of an interesting plot and cast. And then we have similarly scored reviews praising the narrative, premise, and developing cast, while critiquing the game design and play. There's no consensus on whether this feels totally faithful to the franchise namesake, a spin-off, or a vast detraction from familiarity.

This is the most interesting take away for me. It's not just middling scores, of which I don't particularly care about. It's the absence of any consensus towards so many of the components that make up Andromeda as the next Mass Effect game. No matter how you feel about the trial, or the pre-release media and previews, or hype and excitement, or worries and fears; these reviews swing so far in so many directions that I feel fan reception will be equally inconsistent.

And honestly, that kinda makes me even more interested.

Honestly, as someone whose glass is perpetually almost empty, this makes me even more cynical. Like some reviewers calling a spade a spade, but others desperately clinging to the idea it's still the mass effect they loved before, just with some weaknesses.

 

[HaloRose]

Hey Reach was a damn good game in my eyes, the worst Halo followed it.

Still got another 7 hours of the trial to play before making up my mind. I'll probably pick it up in summer. It's a good game, not a great one, but a good one. It scratches an itch for a sci-fi RPG.

Halo reach started decline of halo franchise. Do u think this last game of mass effect.

 

[sleverfunk]

Sad to see this scores.
Naughty Dog save us and give us scifi rpg.

 

[killatopak]

Gonna predict a 78.

Edit: Wait, it's actually a 73 right now?

First flop of 2017.

 

[geordiemp]

Okay now I firmly believe you're joking. There's no way that you're serious.

Now that's just sad in my opinion.

I am deadly serious. If performance dips under 25 on Pro then I can skip it.

I have enough of a backlog of great games running well, and ?

 

[ironcreed]

What the hell is up with the way she is walking?

Reminds me of the how the aliens walked in the movie The Arrival.


Very mediocre scores so far on average. Still want to play it though, but may wait a bit for a price drop.

Sleep in cryo for six centuries and then try to walk.


But seriously, it's just a bug in a game that is apparently overflowing with them.

 

[Widge]

It'll sell well because lots of people don't read reviews. A really decent follow up will be made, sell poorly based on past memories (and because lots of people don't read reviews), then it dies.

 

[- J - D -]

Well it's not an unmitigated disaster, so that's good.

But this March is stacked with heavy competition.

 

[A-V-B]

The more I read these reviews the more I sure am glad that everyone threw a collective tantrum over the 15 minutes that concluded the third game and killed the drive and love of Casey Hudson and a lot of other people to continue on with the series.

It was ugly for everyone involved, that's for sure. But don't blame fans for Andromeda. It's a very short-sighted approach.

 

[Some Nobody]

There's Star Ocean.. which is probably dead as well.

People love their fantasy/medieval RPGs.

I love both, which is why I'm bummed tf out that Berseria and Dragon Age both got stellar reviews while Star Ocean and Mass Effect are apparently just going to be perceived as/reviewed as weak trash. Though at least in tri-ace's case there are clear budgetary issues. There's no excuse for Mass Effect being trash except BW screwed the pooch.

 

[Lime]

Pretty pathetic performance for a five year development cycle.

The Dragon Age team managed an 89 Metacritic and 134 Game of the Year awards (101 critic, 33 reader) with a 3.5 year development cycle, cross-gen limitations, and having to build out all the RPG functionality for the engine. They even spent a non-trivial amount of their cycle on a canceled Dragon Age 2 expansion pack, and had a much worse base to work from.

Mass Effect: Andromeda on the other hand follows up three 90+ games with what will be in the bottom 25-30% of $60 games by Metacritic score this year, and assuredly getting zero (or at least very close to zero) Game of the Year awards, despite having 1.5 more years for development and all the groundwork the Dragon Age and original Mass Effect teams laid for them.

Clear sign of management problems, imo.

 

[ScientificPizza]

Literally you.

No?

I apologise for my realistic expectations and not needing everything to be a 90+ on MC

 

[FlutterPuffs]

I'm pretty confident there would be a continuation of Mass Effect.

There was a huge backlash against Dragon Age 2, and they still made a sequel.

 

[OniBaka]

Between this and Star Ocean bombing, we need a good space opera before the gen ends. Anything in development that would cover this niche?

Well there was an alien invasion in NieR automata.

 

[Ray Down]

They had a five year development cycle. That's got to be more than pretty much any other EA game in history.

At some point BioWare needs to own the responsibility here.

Nintendo wheeled out Breath of the Wild in the same window.

Horizon too in five years right?

and that game a complete departure from what they did previously.

 

[mindsale]

Ugh, couldn't they just sell the multiplayer separately?

 

[Ulong]

Not in space. And the MC is a primitive.

Aloy, from childhood, is using a technology that is so advanded it basically gives her super powers relative to the people around her. I wouldn't exactly call her a primitive.

 

[rakka]

You telling me this game actually is motion-captured?

Who the fuck walks like that?

dead

 

[Renekton]

So I have to ask the question now:

Is the ME franchise done? If this game doesnt sell well and is tanking in reviews, EA is gonna pull the plug right?

Yeah likely, the OG team was already done with it 5 years ago.

 

[Drillary Clinton]

Between this and Star Ocean bombing, we need a good space opera before the gen ends. Anything in development that would cover this niche?

God... I'm still not over that abomination

This halo reach of mass effect. But do think this last game of franchise??

Impossible considering Reach is the best Halo

 

[LastMinuteHero]

Gonna predict a 78.

Gonna be a steep climb from 73

 

[Obliterator]

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/tom-clancys-ghost-recon-wildlands

wildlands reviewed fairly similar and sold well didnt it?..wonder if EA's marketing can stop this being a financial disaster?

Wildlands is a different beast. It's an online co-op shooter made for the super broad mass appeal, not really the sort of game targeted squarely at the hardcore gamer.

Mass Effect is that franchise. The type of game that is in GOTY lists and that people that read Kotaku, IGN, Polygon etc. are deeply interested in. Wildlands getting a 70 from the dedicated media isn't surprising really. For a Mass Effect to do that is horrible

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Suddenly I feel spritely and youthful at 36 as ME is my #1 franchise by a LONG way, and I care about it very deeply.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply us older ladies and gents can't love it as well. Just that when you grow up with an IP, it tends to feel more special than most others.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

I can't stop laughing at that Attack of the Fanboy review.

 

[FlutterPuffs]

Horizon too in five years right?

and that game a complete departure from what they did previously.

Nier Automata

Horizon

Zelda

and to an extent, Final Fantasy XV. All open world RPGs with nothing close to the problems seen in this.

 

[- J - D -]

The more I read these reviews the more I sure am glad that everyone threw a collective tantrum over the 15 minutes that concluded the third game and killed the drive and love of Casey Hudson and a lot of other people to continue on with the series.

Seems like the people who commandeered the original series and understood what made Mass Effect, Mass Effect are mostly missing.

Still will find out for myself but man the general tone of these, especially concerning the main plot, is a bummer.

Pretty easy (and silly) to blame the fanbase as a collective like we are some kind of monolith when the culprit was actually the short development cycle and EA's heavy hand.

 

[Forceatowulf]

After reading some of these reviews, the consensus seems to be:

A. Combat / gameplay is great
B. World design is beautiful
C. Packed with legit content / replay value

This is all I really care about in any video game. Good to see this checks all the right boxes.

The "bad" writing is whatever. This series has never had "good" overall writing to me. As long as the writing is tolerable between the shooting and looting, then it's all good.

The animations and dead doll eyes are weak as fuck, but I know it won't bother me too much.

The bugs though... yeah, that shit has me a little shook. Fuck. I mean, as long as we don't have a Skyrim PS3 situation on our hands, then we're good. Haven't seen any indications of that kind of fuckery so I'm still on board.

Honestly though, if this particular type of game had more competition (scifi, shooter, space Opera, rpg) I would probably be put off enough to just go with a different product, but as it stands.. ME is the only AAA game attempting this shit right now. Only Destiny is even close to this, and yeah, I bought that game with the quickness too. I wish more AAA devs took a swing in this particular field to give me more options, but as of right now, I'll take what I can get- and ME:A, from what I've read so far, seems like a good get.

 

[ScaryShark]

It was ugly for everyone involved, that's for sure. But don't blame fans for Andromeda. It's a very short-sighted approach.

I haven't even played Andromeda so I'm not blaming anyone for something I ultimately don't know about but I am pointing fingers at the 'fanbase' for driving out incredibly talented people for the absurd reaction that ending received.

 

[Ulong]

Then there is a vast discrepancy between their reporting system or the person writing the review doesn't do the score because it doesn't add up.

Or maybe I'm a crazy person and the substance of his review is going right over my head? I dunno it's been a long day but something isn't adding up.

It's not a subtext of the review that's going over your head, but actually the sites own description of the rating scale. Go check it out, all they describe a 4/5 as meaning is "liked".

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Not in space. And the MC is a primitive.

Javik would approve

 

[Pennywise]

They had a five year development cycle. That's got to be more than pretty much any other EA game in history.

At some point BioWare needs to own the responsibility here.

Nintendo wheeled out Breath of the Wild in the same window.

It's mesmerising when you take a look at the different points of criticism. An open world game with bugs will always be the case, but it sounds like there are plenty. A loss of quality in writing was expected after we saw who was on it, but the lack of variety of new species is really blowing my mind. New planets a new galaxy and that's what they come up with ? There was an interesting point on one of those glassdoor reviews about the job quality, that they lost leads on nearly every department over the entire course of the development.

 

[Kazuo Hirai]

Please not "Star Ocean 5" ,I believe ME:A wouldn't be $20 after 1 week

 

[zeromcd73]

Extremely disappointing. Will wait a year or so for some very deep price cuts before I pick this up.

 

[KHlover]

All those mentions of bugs kinda sour this for me. Wouldn't mind if it were only the animations, but right now this looks like a "buy in a couple months and save 30 bucks" kinda game.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Euuuuughhhh I knew this wouldn't be great ever since it insisted on borrowing liberally from what is by far the worst game in the series.

 

[mysteriousmage09]

Not surprised. One hell of a fall from grace.

 

[brickarts295]

Between this and Star Ocean bombing, we need a good space opera before the gen ends. Anything in development that would cover this niche?

I'm Praying for Straley to come back a changed man and decide to make Space Opera at ND. Otherwise, Cyberpunk is the best thing we got going.

 

[takriel]

Suddenly I feel spritely and youthful at 36 as ME is my #1 franchise by a LONG way, and I care about it very deeply.

I'm seeing just as many good reviews as bad/scathing ones - divisive as it gets, but many are really enjoying the game despite it's many technical flaws (which seems to be the main sticking point, along with busy work by the sounds).

I'm all in, not looking for confirmation bias in any reviews: even some of the 60/100 reviews read like a game I still want to play, nothing wrong with that IMO.

With a game like this, you should totally play it for yourself and have your own opinions on it. Especially if you're a big fan.

 

[scoobs]

So its good, but probably not great, and definitely doesn't reach the brilliance of the first two games. Sounds like a solid $25-30 purchase when steam sale rolls around. I'm excited to play it, just not at full price I don't think.

I've gotta say I'm really disappointed this isn't a better game. I hope they get another shot at this with a sequel, sounds like they really nailed the combat, just gotta find some better writers. Might want to try to poach some of those Witcher fellas like Guerrilla Games did