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Mass Effect: Andromeda | Review Thread

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I said 83, but I guess I was being generous. Bargain bin it is.

In that review predictions thread, I guessed the exact same number. Never played Mass Effect before, so I didn't have much context to base it off.

It was a filler pick in my most anticipated list simply because of past titles, but I feel kind of silly for putting it there. At the time, we didn't know what was really coming out this year. Nier: Automata is the only game I really overlooked, and that should have been in its place.

However, I don't pass on games just because they score below 80 on Metacritic. That's very silly, because you'll miss out on several entertaining experiences. Andromeda doesn't seem like a bad game at all, but it apparently doesn't live up to previous ME titles.
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
No surprise it's getting middling scores, you could tell from the way EA marketed the game that they had little confidence in the product.
 

ironcreed

Banned
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.

Same here. Buckle up, we are going in hot.
 

TI82

Banned
Or Nioh, NieR and soon Persona. Generally I would gamble on this because I loved the original trilogy, but nostalgia can only take me so far when there are so many better competing products on the market right now.

Yes, with the astounding amount of GREAT games that have come out these past couple months 2017 is already among the greatest years in gaming. So to even think of paying full price let alone playing this over these other actually good titles?

You'd have to be on something. Whether that be extreme fanboyism or some strange deep love for Salarians I don't know. But it's really strong.
 

UberLevi

Member
Sounds divisive, but I'm a huge fan of the franchise and I just like to play video games, so I'll definitely put my hours into this. Gameplay wise, at least from my Trial impressions, it's the best Mass Effect. Sad to hear that the reviews are so lukewarm.
 
Hopefully no one buys it so I can rake up my rankings on multiplayer and when everyone comes back, I'll whoop their asses with my maxed manifest.
 

sjay1994

Member
Quoting myself:

Unfortunately, I don't think the AAA open world is going to decline especially from multiplatform dev's because the idea that an open world = more content = more value for your money.

I genuinely do enjoy open worlds, but its been a while since I've played something that genuinely felt special, being the witcher 3. ( I have not played Horizon or Zelda)
 

Femto.

Member
Anybody here think that the string of amazing triple A games released this year made it harder for Mass Effect and its flaws, like a standard was raised in the last few weeks?

It reads like its a good game, but doesn't reach the standards of previous games which I feel is the reason the 70's range is disappointing.

Nah.

I've had a bad feeling for this game ever since we got two E3s without gameplay footage and just a bunch of developer "behind t he scenes" crap. The writing was on the wall for this game for quite some time now. Everything shown up in the past 4-6 months did not help either.
 

HariKari

Member
From the IGN review.



After the trial, that just about sums things up for me.

After all this time, all that distance, leaving our old friends (and foes) behind, there is little new to see (in terms of races).

Damn Bioware/EA. Damn.

One of the NPCs straight up mentions that other milky way races like Drell, Quarians, and Hanar got "delayed" aka pushed into DLC.
 

adj_noun

Member
On the bright side, if anyone out there has been thinking "Golly, I sure would love to make a sweeping sci fi epic focused on player decisions that impact the story," here's your opening.

Seriously. There ain't enough of these things.
 

Renekton

Member
it's yellow now
C7WDuLCVsAAXljR.jpg:large
Oh man 😧
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
You're a reviewer, right? What do you think?

I didn't ask for or want review code, so my only exposure is to the trial like many others. For Mass Effect I'd rather sink at my own pacing knowing patches and drivers will be available, rather than the early access pressure of getting the game finished and reviewed by a certain date.
 
Thank god for Horizon Zero Dawn. I'm not into the Japanese releases on PS4 and don't play Nintendo games. Ghost Recon Wildlands was a huge disappointment and now this game looks like one too. So if it weren't for Horizon, the first half of this year would be brutal.
 

geordiemp

Member
To the reviewers that mentioned performance issues....

Go read your last few reviews you hypocrites, usual reviewer bullshit, you just cant find an honest one except for JIM.

Hopefully Pro will sort out perf.

Even IGN mark down performance - have these guys no fucking shame as I thought 20 FPS and freezing was a pass from their last few articles ?
 

A-V-B

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

One member of your crew, a scientist, reveals to you that she believes in God. Now, this is old territory for Mass Effect, where in the first game you had a right-wing Christian on your crew, and it was handled especially well. Not so this time! This is genuinely the conversation:

“Just all of it. So alien. A constant reminder of the divine intelligence behind all creation.”

“Divine intelligence? A god?”

“Yes, I believe in a higher power. I know it’s a little odd. But I’m a scientist because science brings me closer to something greater than myself.”

To this you are given two possible responses. Beyond all credibility, they are:

“I feel the same way.”
Or
“There’s no higher power.”

What the hell? You’re given the choice of either emphatically agreeing that you too believe in God, or you rudely tell a woman you barely know that her faith is bullshit. Honestly, I was tempted just to walk away from the game than be forced into picking one of those two answers. But I went for the former, since at least it wasn’t rude, and I was trying to flirt with her anyway. She expresses her pleasure that someone else agrees that it’s possible to believe in science and God at the same time, and then in what must be one of the worst lines of dialogue in gaming history, your character’s option of a flirting reply is:

“You definitely have an interesting perspective on the interplay between faith and science.”

This isn’t how people speak.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
Really didn't expect it to be this rough. What the hell happened with this game?

I think the game not being developed by the core Bioware staff that handled the original Mass Effect trilogy and the Dragon Age titles is a big contributing issue to the problems this game has.
 

TI82

Banned
Hopefully no one buys it so I can rake up my rankings on multiplayer and when everyone comes back, I'll whoop their asses with my maxed manifest.

Gonna need to completely fix the questing system or I am pretty much out for good. And this is a LONG mass effect fan. Dead series right now tbh
 

Protann

Member
Bummer. I might have picked it up if it had released at a more sparse time for games, but I've only scratched the surface of Zelda and still have Nier, Horizon and Persona to get through after that. No time for mediocrity these days.
 

jdstorm

Banned
On the bright side, if anyone out there has been thinking "Golly, I sure would love to make a sweeping sci fi epic focused on player decisions that impact the story," here's your opening.

Seriously. There ain't enough of these things.

Destiny 2 and Xenoblade 2 are coming in hot this year. Both should hit that niche.
 

LowParry

Member
I think a lot of people are jumping the gun already. The fact that reviews are this divisive makes me much more curious about the game and want to play now instead of waiting for patchworks.
 

Ascenion

Member
1. Many would say Kotor2 is better than KOTOR
2. KOTOR was not really a Bioware
3. DA2 is the worst Bioware game

Is it? It was rushed to hell and back yet still managed to have a pretty good story and introduce fantastic characters. I mean Inon Zur can verify how rushed as shit DA2 was. I'd wager when the dust settles Andromeda will take the crown. 5 years of dev time and maybe ending at DA2 level makes Andromeda look bad. Still 70s aren't bad scores and I need to play the game for myself and I will in 2 days.
 

The Dark Shape

Neo Member
It's suffering the brunt of the Mass Effect 3 backlash.

My gut tells me players will receive it negatively at the beginning, and then in a year people will argue it's underrated and definitely the third best game in the series. (Hipsters will say it's better than Mass Effect 2.)
 

Lakitu

st5fu
Honestly, 73 isn't so bad. It's disappointing for a Mass Effect game but I'm sure fans will get some enjoyment out of it.
 
Yeah. I'm still surprised that Bioware would hand over their most critically acclaimed/commercially successful series to a somewhat fledgling studio. :(

Hoping that Bioware Montreal can learn from this and go on to create a more polished sequel.

Personally, I'm hoping it shows that they have a lot of confidence that their new IP can become a new tentpole for the studio.

As much as I love the Mass Effect franchise, I think I'm at peace with it becoming a B-tier BioWare series if that'll allow them to get creative with new ideas.
 
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