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[Son Of Sparda]

Isn't the 2GB patch the one that Access players and reviewers already received?

I hope the new (smaller) patches resolve some of the UI design issues. I'd like a reason to un-cancel my preorder.

If not, perhaps the Apex app will work with the Access trial, so at least I can stockpile resources for when the game is discounted.

Yeah, 1.03 was also 2GB. It's weird.

 

[Buzzbrad]

So with reviews happening in 1.5 hours, any predictions?

 

[Ivory Samoan]

yes......I aint going in there

Looks like we need a dedicated spoiler thread even before the games out, the OT should be safe refuge from such things right?

 

[GeekMarty]

that's just my opinion though, no need to go spreadin it around.

You. I appreciate you.

 

[Renekton]

So with reviews happening in 1.5 hours, any predictions?

My guess is generally 70-85.

Reviewers have already pushed through Nier, Zelda and Horizon before this.

 

[illamap]

87-90 is my guess for metacritic.

 

[Fedelias]

I'm thinking low 80s due to lack of polish.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

78-82

Anything above that will make me really surprised in a good way.

 

[Spinx]

Jesus Christ there's like one Asari face in Andromeda. They all look like Dr. Lexi.


Wow they're really doing it in these romance scenes.

 

[SerAardvark]

78-82

Anything above that will make me really surprised in a good way.

I was thinking you were being way too pessimistic but the review thread is showing a lot of mixed reactions and lower scores than I was expecting. A decent amount of criticism of the writing as well (although Bioware writing can be hit or miss), though it looks like most people agree the gameplay is a lot of fun.

 

[Spinx]

Ouch, those reviews... They're killing me (not really)

 

[LegalEagleMike]

Seems like those internal reviews are not aligning with the real ones. I liked what I've played so far but it sucks to see such a large dip in critical opinion of a bioware RPG.

 

[TheUnsunghero26]

It's interesting seeing these reviews. I really enjoyed what I played in the 10hr trial, and can't wait to see more. Dragon Age Inquisition was awarded GOTY by quite a few of these publications, and that was a game I really came to dislike.

 

[Renekton]

Welp at least the combat is universally praised. That means the MP will be great unless p2p is really bad.

 

[Spinx]

It's interesting seeing these reviews. I really enjoyed what I played in the 10hr trial, and can't wait to see more. Dragon Age Inquisition was awarded GOTY by quite a few of these publications, and that was a game I really came to dislike.

Witcher 3 came out.

Also, ME3 came out five years ago. That's a long ass time. Enough time to romanticise about the good old days.

 

[TheUnsunghero26]

Witcher 3 came out.

Fair point, Witcher 3 is my favourite game of this gen and set the bar high.

 

[Heckler456]

Well, that's Mass Effect probably shelved. Wonder what this'll mean for Bioware as a whole. My only hope is that it somehow still does pretty well commercially despite the critical reception and the whirlwind of negativity prior to release, which is a ghost of a hope indeed.

I'm still gonna enjoy it at least.

 

[EatChildren]

Well, that's Mass Effect probably shelved. Wonder what this'll mean for Bioware as a whole. My only hope is that it somehow still does pretty well commercially despite the critical reception and the whirlwind of negativity prior to release, which is a ghost of a hope indeed.

I'll still gonna enjoy it at least.

Sales will be the deciding factor in how EA treat the series moving forward. I guarantee you at time of writing there's full intent to make a success to Andromeda; the interviews imply as much.

Worst case scenario is something like Mankind Divided, where the reviews aside the market simply does not respond positively to the latest title. And it's entirely possible. Mass Effect is absolutely a key franchise for EA, but Mankind Divided slumped hard in the market and had poor legs. Mass Effect going in that direction would have a huge impact. Best case scenario; sequel goes forward but major changes are made to production scope, design, and vision in response to critical and commercial response. Worst case scenario: franchise is shelved indefinitely.

Even if Andromeda still does well in the market, I'd be exceedingly surprised if changes weren't made to a successor. EA and BW won't want a 70-something Metacritic being the legacy of Mass Effect.

 

[BrassDragon]

Story and dialogue taking critical hits... I can't even. ME3 at least had the excuse of being rushed but they had years to plot this one out and no narrative baggage.

Worst case scenario is something like Mankind Divided, where the reviews aside the market simply does not respond positively to the latest title. And it's entirely possible. Mass Effect is absolutely a key franchise for EA, but Mankind Divided slumped hard in the market and had poor legs. Mass Effect going in that direction would have a huge impact. Best case scenario; sequel goes forward but major changes are made to production scope, design, and vision in response to critical and commercial response. Worst case scenario: franchise is shelved indefinitely.

The worst case scenario for me is that they ditch the dialogue/cinematic pillar of the franchise (which is demonstrably hard to get right and resource-intensive) and double down on the most favorably received part of the game, namely the combat.

 

[Heckler456]

Times like these, you want to be a fly on the wall man. We need Schreier to write another chapter on Andromeda in his book come September! Or at the very least, we need some insiders to speak up.

And yeah EatChildren, that's definitely a sober if not slightly optimistic way of looking at things. First up though, I'm guessing next up will be their new IP. And I'm guessing that all of their talent will have been spent on that one (you'd hope, at least). That one's probably already too far into production to steer the ship by anything more than a couple of degrees, but like, what does a Dragon Age Inquisition 2 look like after this, if that's even in production? Do they hire more talent, give it a bigger budget, while keeping the scope? Or do they go with the more "economically sensible" thing?

Story and dialogue taking critical hits... I can't even. ME3 at least had the excuse of being rushed but they had years to plot this one out and no narrative baggage.



The worst case scenario for me is that they ditch the dialogue/cinematic pillar of the franchise (which is demonstrably hard to get right and resource-intensive) and double down on the most favorably received part of the game, namely the combat.

Myeah, good point. You'd think that the disappointing critical reception despite the seemingly great combat would push them in the opposite direction, with more resources spent on the dialogue/cinematic pillar, but you never know with these things. Gonna be a long couple of years before we know anything concrete.

--

Also, this is currently reviewing worse than Dead Space 3, so perhaps we should be looking at that game to see how they'll handle the situation...

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Sales will be the deciding factor in how EA treat the series moving forward. I guarantee you at time of writing there's full intent to make a success to Andromeda; the interviews imply as much.

Worst case scenario is something like Mankind Divided, where the reviews aside the market simply does not respond positively to the latest title. And it's entirely possible. Mass Effect is absolutely a key franchise for EA, but Mankind Divided slumped hard in the market and had poor legs. Mass Effect going in that direction would have a huge impact. Best case scenario; sequel goes forward but major changes are made to production scope, design, and vision in response to critical and commercial response. Worst case scenario: franchise is shelved indefinitely.

Even if Andromeda still does well in the market, I'd be exceedingly surprised if changes weren't made to a successor. EA and BW won't want a 70-something Metacritic being the legacy of Mass Effect.

Even though it's getting some pretty (very) mixed reviews (let's not forget, there are just as many 80+ ones as bad ones), I think it's still going to sell well and have much better legs than Deus Ex MD (RIP, love you Mr Jensen forevers).

In a way, as long as the successor is made (from all accounts, the story is 100% setup to keep going etc), it's a wakeup call to BioWare/EA to hit it out of the park, learn from previous mistakes and adjust accordingly.

I'm still going to enjoy this space adventure with new friends and some of the best MP this side of TLoU Factions....let's do this fam.

 

[BrassDragon]

One of the things that irked me about the story (Cora motivation spoilers):

Spoiler

your Ryder basically usurps the Pathfinder position that Cora was being groomed for and she has to deal with her disappointment/resentment.

When that was brought up, I thought 'cool - interesting conflict within the Tempest crew, a rift the player can mend or widen'. Instead,

Spoiler

during the trial, Cora told me she was totally cool with it in the very first dialogue we shared, without any intervention on my part...

woosh, there goes a whole dramatic arc.

For those in the know, do they ever get back to that thread?

 

[HaloRose]

Sales will be the deciding factor in how EA treat the series moving forward. I guarantee you at time of writing there's full intent to make a success to Andromeda; the interviews imply as much.

Worst case scenario is something like Mankind Divided, where the reviews aside the market simply does not respond positively to the latest title. And it's entirely possible. Mass Effect is absolutely a key franchise for EA, but Mankind Divided slumped hard in the market and had poor legs. Mass Effect going in that direction would have a huge impact. Best case scenario; sequel goes forward but major changes are made to production scope, design, and vision in response to critical and commercial response. Worst case scenario: franchise is shelved indefinitely.

Even if Andromeda still does well in the market, I'd be exceedingly surprised if changes weren't made to a successor. EA and BW won't want a 70-something Metacritic being the legacy of Mass Effect.

Should go back Milky Way i know it be hard because of mass effect 3 ending but their should go.

 

[Bob Dobalina]

One thing that's honestly a little mind boggling to me, and something I've been worried about has to do with creatures on the various planets-spoilering this for those that want to go in dark:

Spoiler

apparently every explorable planet with native life just has the same 3 small, medium and large monster types just with different skins? I was really, really hoping that having a handful of explorable planets meant they would give each one their own creatures or life forms at the very least, but the snow planet for example has a blue reskin of the Kett Fiend enemy... :|

 

[GSR]

Hm, disappointing reviews. I still enjoyed the trial, and at this point my expectations for the game are... well, a below-average Mass Effect. I know what I'm getting, and I think it'll still be a good enough time.

 

[Snagret]

One thing that's honestly a little mind boggling to me, and something I've been worried about has to do with creatures on the various planets-spoilering this for those that want to go in dark:

Spoiler

apparently every explorable planet with native life just has the same 3 small, medium and large monster types just with different skins? I was really, really hoping that having a handful of explorable planets meant they would give each one their own creatures or life forms at the very least, but the snow planet for example has a blue reskin of the Kett Fiend enemy... :|

This is something I've been noticing in the multiplayer. I was confused for a while that multiple factions would have the same quadrupedal lizard creature as a part of their roster before I realized they were supposed to be different species. I only hope they have DLC going forward that introduces more factions with different types of enemies, right now there isn't much of a difference in strategy between them all. Even ME3 felt like it had more types within each faction, rather than just different types of humanoids who might have a shield barrier and a different type of gun.

In general, it's disappointing to me that they seem to lean so heavily into humanoid aliens. They are in a perfect position to really explore more...well, "alien" body types but so far they all seem like they could just as easily be humans in a bodysuit in a sci-fi film.

 

[Bubble]

Damn, these reviews aren't good (they're not bad, but probably not what they were aiming for) for Mass Effect. If it flops in sales, this might be the end of Mass Effect

I don't want to live in a world where Mass Effect is put on the shelf, while Dragon Age games gets to be made. Life just ain't fair.

 

[Tenacious-D]

To the guys who have played the game, do we get alien tits?

This is all I need to know.

I saw that Cora romance scene... brick house.

 

[SliChillax]

Reviews are not negative but they should have been higher. It doesn't matter to me anyway cause I liked the trial and I can't wait to play through the game. I just hope the game sells well, I don't want my favorite franchise to end up like Deus Ex. Maybe Bioware Montreal was a mistake for this game, who knows. I just hope I end up loving the game like I lived the whole trilogy.

 

[Caboose]

To the guys who have played the game, do we get alien tits?

This is all I need to know.

I saw that Cora romance scene... brick house.

Dat ass don't make no sense breh.

 

[Bisnic]

Well, I know I'm not going to touch that review thread. Suck to hear about these reviews, but I think I'm still going to love the game if what little I've played of the trial was good enough for me, and that's apparently the worst part.

 

[Patryn]

I think unless the game is a massive sales success (which I'm willing to bet it won't be at this point), there's an almost zero chance that the next game is going to be Mass Effect Andromeda 2. I hate to say it, but it looks like MEA is going to end up the DA2 of the ME series.

I'm starting to think it's possible that ME5, if it does happen, will just be a reboot of the series set back in the Milky Way.

I really hope if nothing else that they find a new creative director for the series. Between his decisions in ME3 and now this, where the writing appears to be a common complaint on par with the animations, Mac Walters has shown that he's simply not up to the job. He seems fine when he's writing in well defined borders, given his skill at writing characters in ME1 and ME2, but his larger vision stuff is definitely lacking.

Speaking of writing, how the hell did Chris Schlerf keep finding his way into lead writing gigs? Based on his IMDB, he hadn't really done anything until he suddenly became head writer of Halo 4, a game not exactly lauded for its writing, then became head writer for MEA, a game where apparently the writing is considered subpar. And yet somehow Bungie hired him as head writer for the new Destiny, a game that people should now be seriously worried about the writing for.

What I'm now really worried about is that EA will rush out Dragon Age 4 in response, because that's a game that they really need to take some care and effort with, given how the series has been building to it.

Reviews are not negative but they should have been higher. It doesn't matter to me anyway cause I liked the trial and I can't wait to play through the game. I just hope the game sells well, I don't want my favorite franchise to end up like Deus Ex. Maybe Bioware Edmonton was a mistake for this game, who knows. I just hope I end up loving the game like I lived the whole trilogy.

I believe you mean Bioware Montreal. If anything, this will likely mean that Edmonton is going to take the lead for all Bioware games, while Montreal gets reduced to simply a production factory and DLC studio.

 

[SlickVic]

Well I've procrastinated this as long as I could. The day before Andromeda comes out and I'll finally play Citadel for the first time. I've played all the other games and DLC up to this point, but it felt challenging to get around to Citadel, for the sole reason it's hard to say goodbye to the original trilogy. Looking back on it, Mass Effect was my favorite series of games from last generation, and it felt good to know I still had some new content still waiting for me. I think the time is right now.

 

[Renekton]

Edmonton might be in trouble as well if they actually intend to challenge Destiny 2.

 

[ViciousDS]

Well, I know I'm not going to touch that review thread. Suck to hear about these reviews, but I think I'm still going to love the game if what little I've played of the trial was good enough for me, and that's apparently the worst part.

Worst part is.......anyhthing positive Shinobi says on insider stuff if he ever posts again, outside the general ME community thread is going to be thrashed.


Still can't wait for tomorrow

 

[Patryn]

Worst part is.......anyhthing positive Shinobi says on these threads if he ever posts again, outside the general ME community thread is going to be thrashed.


Still can't wait for tomorrow

I believe Shinobi has indicated on Twitter that he's done with GAF. I don't think we'll see him back here for a long while, if ever.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

I was thinking you were being way too pessimistic but the review thread is showing a lot of mixed reactions and lower scores than I was expecting. A decent amount of criticism of the writing as well (although Bioware writing can be hit or miss), though it looks like most people agree the gameplay is a lot of fun.

Yeah, even I didn't expect it to get lower. The thing that disappoints me the most is fetch quests. They specifically mentioned and promised that this game is not gonna be similar to DA:I in that regard. They even compared side quests in Andromeda to the ones in Witcher 3....

Bioware should just stop with side quests all together. The "optional" stuff that they did in ME2 in form of loyalty missions, were their best side stuff. They should just lean more towards that and move away from having standard side-quests in their games.

 

[Patryn]

Yeah, even I didn't expect it to get lower. The thing that disappoints me the most is fetch quests. They specifically mentioned and promised that this game is not gonna be similar to DA:I in that regard. They even compared side quests in Andromeda to the ones in Witcher 3....

Bioware should just stop with side quests all together. The "optional" stuff that they did in ME2 in form of loyalty missions, were their best side stuff. They should just lean more towards that and move away from having standard side-quests in their games.

You should just stop paying attention to the Bioware interviews and wait until you see the game. Don't forget the numerous interviews before ME3 talking about the ending and how it wouldn't be A, B or C, or the fact that Mac Walters gave an interview about MEA bragging about how improved the animations were.

 

[lucebuce12]

I believe Shinobi has indicated on Twitter that he's done with GAF. I don't think we'll see him back here for a long while, if ever.

That's a real shame, I hope he comes back

It was always nice to see him sharing info or posting impressions.

 

[Xando]

That's a real shame, I hope he comes back

It was always nice to see him sharing info or posting impressions.

Can you blame him after the abuse he got for his impressions thread for a video game

 

[Son Of Sparda]

You should just stop paying attention to the Bioware interviews and wait until you see the game. Don't forget the numerous interviews before ME3 talking about the ending and how it wouldn't be A, B or C, or the fact that Mac Walters gave an interview about MEA bragging about how improved the animations were.

Bioware is really destroying its reputation with these broken promises. How can anyone believe anything they say about their next game, when they just keep on... well let's call it what it is... lying about what you should and shouldn't expect in their games.

 

[Blue Ninja]

I believe Shinobi has indicated on Twitter that he's done with GAF. I don't think we'll see him back here for a long while, if ever.

Yeah, Shinobi and I talked about it and he's done for now. I was on the verge of quitting as well, but so far the venom and hyperbole seems to have died down somewhat. Still decided to limit my time.

 

[dr_rus]

Well... Yeah.

 

[Kurumi]

Can you blame him after the abuse he got for his impressions thread for a video game

I don't blame him. It was ridiculous and uncalled for.

 

[Bisnic]

Honestly, no matter how I may like Andromeda despite its issues... after the ME3 ending fiasco and how the reviews(and said issues) are coming in for this game, I'm not expecting Mac Walters to be in any future Mass Effect games. They gave him another chance with Andromeda and he blew it, even with EA giving his team 5 years.

 

[Blue Ninja]

Well... Yeah.

Kinda crazy how off the mark their internal mock reviews must've been. They honestly didn't expect this, I'm quite sure.

 

[ViciousDS]

Well... Yeah.

Eesh, I guess that didn't help either lol


Hopefully shinobi sticks around just in the community threads. At this current GAF state right now it's pretty fucking bad. It's so fun to bash anything and everything at this point that is positive. I've noticed it's gotten really, really toxic for everything. I probably won't read anything past the first posts on the Xbox Scorpio threads come E3 because I know how the fanfare will be there lol.

 

[Heckler456]

Honestly, no matter how I may like Andromeda despite its issues... after the ME3 ending fiasco and how the reviews(and said issues) are coming in for this game, I'm not expecting Mac Walters to be in any future Mass Effect games. They gave him another chance with Andromeda and he blew it, even with EA giving his team 5 years.

Do we actually know for a fact that this game had 5 years of production going for? Like I said in the review thread, at the very least, this game must have coincided with one other game's production, if not two. Bioware is a very big studio, but still, you can't have the best of your talent on every single production.

Dragon Age Inquisition was 2.5 years ago, so that'd put the tail end of its production right around the middle of this supposed 5 years of production. And then you also have their new IP, which seems to have been in development for 6 years. Like, I don't know if ME:A actually got Bioware's full and undivided attention at any point.

 

[Patryn]

Do we actually know for a fact that this game had 5 years of production going for? Like I said in the review thread, at the very least, this game must have coincided with one other game's production, if not two. Bioware is a very big studio, but still, certain you can't have the best of your talent on every single production.

Dragon Age Inquisition was 2.5 years ago, so that'd put the tail end of its production right around the middle of this supposed 5 years of production. And then you also have their new IP, which seems to have been in development for 6 years. Like, I don't know if ME:A actually got Bioware's full and undivided attention at any point.

That's a fine argument to be made about a lot of stuff, but Mac Walters is the Creative Director for Mass Effect, so he never would have been working on any of those other titles. He's been working on Mass Effect for that full time, and I think a lot of his decisions for MEA can certainly be questioned.

For instance, it's mind-boggling how much MEA leans on the crutch of existing species. Only giving us one squad member that's a new species continues to astound me. Only introducing a couple of new species is another massively puzzling decision.

 

[Tony Redgrave]

So, did I just wake up to a 75 Metascore? Just paranoia talking for sure but this is starting to make me worried about the series' future.