Mass Effect: ANDROMEDA

[Lakenheath 72]

I have been watching a live stream by Lorerunner of this game. It is reminiscent of Dragon Age: Inquisition. I attempted playing this game last year - I could not get past the first area of the game. There was little of what I experienced which interested me or got me invested in the game.

A major issue for me with ME:A is that the game does not stack. Every forty-five minutes or so, the game refreshed the research. If you did not check it, the cycle would pause. So, a player would have to do exploration for those forty-five minutes, then returned to the area where they can check the progress. If a player did not check and played for longer then forty-five minutes, then returned to check they would not see two or more cycles of progress. It would be always one cycle. Lorerunner can describe it better then I do.

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Lorerunner described the game in his review as aggresively average.

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[VDCNI]

I haven't really used the research system much in ME:A, I used crafting sometimes in DA:I but it never seemed to make a huge difference.

ME:A is a pain to get around in though, I did a quest the other day where you have to track a shuttle and it was scan, move to a new part of space, scan and then move on and having to put up with the ship moving animation every time. Ok it's never going to be as easy as Dragon Age as you can't hop from planet to planet the way you can between areas but it feels like they've added extra barriers that previous Mass Effect's didn't have.

There are quite a few quests where you have to track something on a planet by following a trail which basically means drive to a spot, scan something, drive to the next spot and so on. It might be broken up with the odd fight, against animals mainly, but it's all a bit repetitive.

And maybe it's just the way I'm playing it but it feels like you approach every enemy the same way. When fighting Reapers or Cerebus in ME3, the different classes encouraged you to use different strategies, here it is just barrel in and shoot/use powers for all them. There's no heart in mouth moments like dodging a brute while a banshee zips towards you etc. Apart from Architects maybe but even they aren't as fun as Dragon's.

I'm still going with it and enjoying it in places but it seems odd that after the main criticism of DA:I was you've created these huge worlds and haven't put in enough interesting things to do their response is to create bigger worlds with even less to do.

 

[SPCTRE]

I'm still incredibly happy with the game, several dozen hours in - it manages to recapture a lot of the aspects of the OG game that I'm really into ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I even like the planet/system/cluster navigation, it rightfully gets flak for being slow, but at least it makes me feel like I'm doing some honest space explorin'.

Some of the writing is surprisingly cringe-y, but on a technical level I haven't really encountered more bugs than, say, in the OG trilogy.

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, I really like the interstellar navigation, too. It *is* slow, but it conveys a far better sense of exploring space than either of the previous games managed.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

It's an Avenger...that's the entry level assault rifle so of course it's rubbish, even upgraded. Also helps if you put points into the relevant combat skill. Makes them *way* more effective.

I actually stopped using assault rifles earlier in the game when I spent a big wad of credits on a Mattock III only to have it fail to make a dent in anything tougher than a Wraith. Could be that I'm spoiled because the Mattock kicked entirely too much ass in Mass Effect II and III and now it feels nerfed as hell (same thing happened to the Magnum pistol in Halo). Hell, even the Avengers in ME2 and 3 were at least USEABLE before they were upgraded. But this feels like trying to kill someone with an airsoft rifle.

OTOH, even with a Black Widow I I'm already getting like 3 or 4 kills in ten seconds. Finally upgraded to a VI with a vintage thermal clip and now combat is starting to feel like gardening (except the weeds occasionally shoot back).

Personally I like a little puzzle solving. Adds a little variety to the gameplay.

Me too. It feels very Indiana Jones-ish.

I tend to just leave it running as a drive around normally, and if I happen across a spike, I'll fish around for a bit until it peaks. Methodically trying to scour the area seems a bit pointless since I've yet to run into a situation that I desperately need a certain mineral. But then I've learned from experience to hold off on crafting until the current gear starts to noticeably dip in effectiveness. Also helps that I dismantle most of the loot I pick up rather than sell it. So far I get way more cash from the sale of junk than I know what to do with anyway.

Depending on your preferences, some of the minerals are utterly useless in crafting and you can actually make a SHITLOAD of money selling those instead. I somehow wound up with like 1400 units of magnesium yesterday; checked out my research projects and, nope, nothing I will ever want to craft uses magnesium in any quantity. So I sold off 1200 units of the crap at 12 credits per unit. Big payday, that.

Even the materials you DO use for crafting get pretty flush. I try to keep about 300 in Aluminum, iron and beryllium since those are the ones I end up needing the most (never sell Eezo. Seriously. Don't do it!) but if I look and see I have like 900 in Aluminum I'll go and empty the fridge at Nexus or Techix and maybe try to score some Eezo in the process.

 

[VDCNI]

To be a bit more positive I like that my Ryder has a bit more personality than Shepard ever did. Even in the cut scenes he seems quite casual/sarcastic, more like Hawke from DA2 could be. I assume that's because I generally choose the laidback or emotional dialogue when I can and that if I play a future Ryder and pick the more serious choices then that will also be reflected.

 

[Seven of Five]

I finally finished my game. I think my final run-time was around 86 hours, and I finished at 92% complete, which on the whole wasn't bad considering I was avoiding the leftover scanning side missions like the plague. On the whole I enjoyed it, though I do wonder how much of my time I spent lost on a planet jumping around looking for silly things.

By the end I think it was a worthy successor to the others, even if there were several fundamental flaws along the way. I particularly liked how well throught out the ending was compared to ME3, though to be fair to ME3 I always loved the majority of the game.

Drack, PeeBee and Jaal were easily my favourite squadmates. When it came to going to planets, PeeBee with pretty much anyone was always fun, but I really liked teaming her up with Drack for the win.

I look forward to playing a new game with everything I found in this one, but I don't think I'll be so obsessed with quest completion next time.

The last half of the game was littered with a few more glitches and game slowdown. Drack's loyalty mission was particularly troublesome.

Finding it hard to write down proper opinions as it's now nearly 3am and I was up at 5am yesterday morning for work! I need sleep.

 

[Evil Twin]

^I finished the game tonight also. Eager to start up a second playthrough as a vanguard, but figure it's probably wise to wait until Thursday to take full advantage of the patch.

Was browsing through MEA's IMDB page and it was interesting to see who some of the voice actors were beyond the obvious ones. In addition to Natalie Dormer, there were a few other GoT actors...

Gil = Renly Baratheon
Moshae/Sloane Kelly = Ellaria Sand
Pathfinder Raeka = Yara Greyjoy

And then...

Cora = Witcher 1's Triss
Suvi = Fallout 4's Cait
Reyes = Hawke
Kesh = Josephine
SAM = Calperina (didn't even realize that was a female voice actor)

 

[Seven of Five]

I sarted a New Game+ just to see how shiny my new game would be, but seeing the patch that's coming tomorrow I'll hold off and catch up with TV.

You can skip the planet scenes on the galaxy map apparently so instantly my game time will be halved.

 

[Evil Twin]

Addison's no longer a soulless automaton, yay! However, her face is still tired from dealing with everything.

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[-Brett-]

Her face got a little rest. Still tired though.

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, there's a definite improvement, but there's still the underlying problems of darting eyes, odd blinking patterns and something weird with the lip animations that doesn't seem to know how far back the mouth has been set. So it still does that thing where a character occasionally looks like a chimp eating a banana while trying to form vowel shapes.

Also I doubt they've gone through the whole game with these animation tweaks. More likely they've just addressed the one's most frequently mocked from the first few hours, possibly on the theory by the time streamers make it that far in the game people will have lost interest.

On the plus side, the new eye shaders made my Ryder look a lot less starey and generally more relaxed. Though some of that might be Peebee's doing...

 

[Camren]

Does the patch work on existing saves or do you need to start a new game for it to take effect?

Must admit, I'm struggling to get into this. I'm not much of a gamer anymore so it just could be that but I loved the original ME trilogy yet I find myself unenthusiastic about Andromeda. I'm still running around on Eos but it just feels laboured, slow moving, a bit too open world and I'm not enamoured with the storyline or the characters thus far.
I never got far in DA:I either before giving up despite being a huge fan of the original DA:O, and at the moment I don't think I'll have the will to complete this game.

 

[Reverend]

Does the patch work on existing saves or do you need to start a new game for it to take effect?

It's just a graphical upgrade. There's no reason why a new save would be necessary.

I'm still running around on Eos but it just feels laboured, slow moving, a bit too open world and I'm not enamoured with the storyline or the characters thus far.

Best thing to do in this instance is to stop pottering around Eos and go chase those priority missions instead. Those advance the main plot, open up new planets, and get those crew loyalty missions to start dropping.

Basically the same advice I'd give to someone getting tired of DAI's open world: get out of the Hinterlands already!

Not that I've been following it myself as I'm at a point where I'm getting as much ticked off the journal as possible before landing on what I'm pretty sure are the last two planets and findind a certain someone's ship. But then I'm an obsessive completionist when it comes to these games.

 

[TheSublimeGoose]

It's just a graphical upgrade. There's no reason why a new save would be necessary.


Best thing to do in this instance is to stop pottering around Eos and go chase those priority missions instead. Those advance the main plot, open up new planets, and get those crew loyalty missions to start dropping.

Basically the same advice I'd give to someone getting tired of DAI's open world: get out of the Hinterlands already!

Not that I've been following it myself as I'm at a point where I'm getting as much ticked off the journal as possible before landing on what I'm pretty sure are the last two planets and findind a certain someone's ship. But then I'm an obsessive completionist when it comes to these games.

Good advice. Get yourself to the next planet. Besides, once you complete one or two more "Priority Operations," the radiation on Eos begins to clear even more, unlocking a boatload of new content/areas.

That said, take your time! It's a game, meant to be enjoyed.

 

[Evil Twin]

Friendly reminder, when fighting a Remnant architect, don't forget to actually SCAN it with your omni-tool. I'm stuck at 19/20 for the "Aid APEX" quest on my first playthrough because I forgot to do so and already defeated all of them in the game.

Just took down the Eos one on my vanguard which was pretty fun since you can biotic charge the head/legs, then stay in place with hover and blast them with your shotgun.

 

[Whizzer]

Just finished it on my fem Ryder Adept.
Very impressed with the amount of quests and the work that had to go into making the landing zones as packed as they are.
For some reason I am not so invested in the characters as I was in ME1 and 2.
Oh, and the difficulty of a fight and the reaction of your companions is sometimes unintentionally funny.
Kett appear, run into an Singularity, big biotic explosion and I hear a companion say "Man, that was harder than a vault"...

 

[John Clark]

I'm probably about fifteen or so how hours in, and I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface. I've only really done the vault work on Eos and Harvarl though. I do have another priority mission open (Meridian) but for the moment, I'm just taking a look at some of the loyalty missions.

I am using the melee function more than I did in the early games though.

 

[BillJ]

Probably the best Star Trek game we'll ever get.

 

[Seven of Five]

I thought that about the first game as well.

It's just a graphical upgrade. There's no reason why a new save would be necessary.


Best thing to do in this instance is to stop pottering around Eos and go chase those priority missions instead. Those advance the main plot, open up new planets, and get those crew loyalty missions to start dropping.

Basically the same advice I'd give to someone getting tired of DAI's open world: get out of the Hinterlands already!

Not that I've been following it myself as I'm at a point where I'm getting as much ticked off the journal as possible before landing on what I'm pretty sure are the last two planets and findind a certain someone's ship. But then I'm an obsessive completionist when it comes to these games.

Yeah that's my general 'problem' with the game. A nightmare for people that like to tick off all the tasks. I 100% all the planets and did as many tasks as I could do without wanting to throw things.

I've just done Eos again in a much, much shorter time than my first playthrough. It's so funny how fast your can do things all levelled up and knowing how to fight. Oh and I love fighting Remnant Architects now I'm a higher level.

The planet is at 76% and I think that will do for me on this run. I wonder what impact having less vitality will have on the story in the future? I've already made a couple of decisions differently which should have a different outcome, but I don't remember making many big decisions in the game that were comparable with the other games?