Mass Effect: ANDROMEDA

[Gingerbread Demon]

Figures.
I didn't set my game to automatically upload my Ryders to the online site and this screen cap is pretty much just an alt-print screen so the pic hasn't come out as well as it normally looks on screen. So, here's my current (first) Ryder.

Your Ryder looks cool.

I'm fond of my Ryder but now realized I could have done a better job of creating her.

 

[Jax]

Any news yet about DLC plans? from Bioware/EA

 

[Reverend]

I think I'm nearing the end as there's very little to do now aside from priority missions. It's taken a while but I think I've finally come quite attached to my Ryder. It only took two attempts the get a face I was happy with, but that speaks more the the over-simplified CC than anything else. The new eye textures really helped too I think.

Figures.
I didn't set my game to automatically upload my Ryders to the online site and this screen cap is pretty much just an alt-print screen so the pic hasn't come out as well as it normally looks on screen. So, here's my current (first) Ryder.

Your Ryder looks cool.

I'm fond of my Ryder but now realized I could have done a better job of creating her.

Wait, so are any of us NOT using the female Asian preset as a base!?

Speaking of doing a better job, this was my progression from first to current.

I started out trying to do an unusual ethnic mix like I did with my main Shepard, but it ended up just looking ugly and incongruous with the version of Alec it generated. I also tried an unnatural hair colour, but it was too distracting in cutscenes for me.

Any news yet about DLC plans? from Bioware/EA

Nothing official so far as I know. Just some click-baity rumours based on what happens at the end of the game (which I haven't gotten to yet, so I don't want to know.)

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Well at least MEA sales have been better then Dishonoured 2. That game has had serious backlash over bad PC performance and even bad performance on Xbone

 

[John Clark]

I started out trying to do an unusual ethnic mix like I did with my main Shepard, but it ended up just looking ugly and incongruous with the version of Alec it generated. I also tried an unnatural hair colour, but it was too distracting in cutscenes for me.

Alec doesn't look quite as related to my Ryder as her bro does, but obviously I had a little more control over that.
You don't even want to know how my first Shepard turned out. A combination of bad monitor and graphics card just about capable of running the game didn't make for a particulary healthy look. For the other games, it's not been an issue, but my Inquisitor had some derpy moments.

 

[Reverend]

Just got around to finishing the game after much dithering about. Honestly I'm a little disappointed. It wasn't bland, but at the same time it wasn't very interesting. The villain was one dimensional, the plot was predictable and the scope was surprisingly limited.

A lot of plot threads were introduced that seemed like they were going somewhere interesting...but then they didn't. I suppose they're saving some of that for the sequel, but honestly I could have done with a little more substance in *this* instalment first.

Spoiler: post ending content

I'm assuming the Quarian ark thing is for upcoming DLC, not sequel bait.

Also, did I miss something or was there a point to setting whether Shepard was male or female when I created a new game? I can't only remember Shep being referred to once or twice and I'm pretty sure there were no gender pronouns to be found.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I have no idea what they were doing with that Shepard thing. Something about character history or something. It's never fleshed out or explained properly why that is in the game.

 

[Reverend]

Maybe they were just hedging their bets in regards to future content?

Somewhat related: am I crazy, or was there a serious lack of easter egg type material this time around? The corners of DAI's maps were positively stuffed with little secrets, funny little touches, many many cheese wheels and even a whole quest that requires you to jump up and down on a tiny house. Didn't notice anything of the sort here. Even ME1 had a few things like that (shifty spacecow leaps to mind), plus a lot of interesting flavour text in the planet descriptions.

All MEA seamed to have is a bunch of awkward Dragon Age Inquisition references of all things.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Well there was references to Zaed although it's his son and it seems awkward and out of character that he had a son also in the same business as he was.

Dr. Okeer from ME 2 is mentioned as well. That's the only two I've picked out so far.

Something I had noticed and many people have pointed this out too is that although they might have seen these worlds from the Milky Way and thought "ah lets go there" did it occur to anyone that during the 600 year trip those worlds might have themselves drastically changed, or not been there at all by the time people from our galaxy get there.

Also us coming to Andromeda in a way we are more or less the invaders here in part. It's briefly mentioned in the game but then forgotten again for the sake of expediency and storytelling.

 

[Reverend]

Oh there's plenty of callbacks and references to the previous games, but I wouldn't exactly call them easter eggs. Those you typically have to go looking to find, not hanging out in the middle of a warzone talking about his dad, or between dances at a dive bar talking about her crazy brother. It all felt pretty shallow to me.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Oh there's plenty of callbacks and references to the previous games, but I wouldn't exactly call them easter eggs. Those you typically have to go looking to find, not hanging out in the middle of a warzone talking about his dad, or between dances at a dive bar talking about her crazy brother. It all felt pretty shallow to me.

As long as the Reapers are not chasing the Quarians across dark space. That would pee me off.

Mind you untainted Reapers vs Shepard Reapers would be neat, or ones in the Synthesis ending.

EDIT: Hey is there a second vault on Havarl?

I found the main one for the mission quest "A Dying Planet" but noticed another one near the top of the map but one of the rooms has an open door blocked by a blue energy field.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I found something really amusing.


There is a mission on the Krogan planet where you have to find a crashed ship, and when you save the survivors if you drive off one of them will chase the nomad and huddle close to the side of the vehicle.

I took a drive far from the crash site and then on the top of the hill behind me there was the same survivor running after the vehicle. Really amusing that they follow you everywhere. I fast travelled to another location so I think that broke line of sight. But it's an interesting bug or whatever.

 

[Jax]

Video from The Know and here's a snippet from Kotaku...

EA have put Mass Effect on hiatus and turned Andromeda’s developer, BioWare Montreal, into a support studio. It’s unlikely that BioWare will kill the popular sci-fi franchise. But BioWare is letting Mass Effect sit for a while rather than putting staff on Andromeda’s follow-up right away

Last month, a number of BioWare Montreal employees were transferred to the studio EA Motive, also based in Montreal, to work on Star Wars Battlefront II. Those remaining at BioWare Montreal will help support BioWare’s other games including the new intellectual property, code-named Dylan, which we expect the company to announce at E3. BioWare Montreal will also continue to patch and support Andromeda’s multiplayer.

No looks like ZERO chance of Single Player DLC, which is disappointing and does that mean no more patches for SP? The two reasons I haven't brought the game yet are DLC plans and Patch work.

Also Bioware's new IP has been delayed until April 2018-March 2019.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

It's EA they buy studios then kill them, they're like the Reapers, dissolving them into their biomass.

OK I'm right near the end of Andromeda and movie night hasn't spawned for me yet. I've spoken to everyone, ran all their stupid errands, no movie night.

Also why is Ryder not visible in the movie night? It's a known bug.

Also has anyone else finished the game and did you feel somewhat disappointed? I kind of am feeling that way. I just wanted to see what others think.

Would I play again, I'm not sure?

If you just stuck to the main story how long is the game supposed to be?

I never got the movie night mission. I feel a little left out now, I did all the quests and fetched things.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Are there no actual options in this thing to be a total jerk? Seems you win crew loyalty regardless of how the mission plays out.

 

[Reverend]

Yeah, there's no paragon/renegade dichotomy, it's more a balance of logical/professional vs. casual/sarcastic.
Less Captain America vs. Dirty Harry and more Spock vs. Bones.

As for crew "loyalty", it's more a matter of personal feelings towards Ryder. I won't know the difference until my second playthrough (waiting on the supposed CC patch) but I did notice that after my Ryder put Liam in his place at the end of his loyalty mission (rather than continue to enable his obnoxious bullshit) he did seem to take a more professional tone.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Yeah, there's no paragon/renegade dichotomy, it's more a balance of logical/professional vs. casual/sarcastic.
Less Captain America vs. Dirty Harry and more Spock vs. Bones.

As for crew "loyalty", it's more a matter of personal feelings towards Ryder. I won't know the difference until my second playthrough (waiting on the supposed CC patch) but I did notice that after my Ryder put Liam in his place at the end of his loyalty mission (rather than continue to enable his obnoxious bullshit) he did seem to take a more professional tone.

IKR Liam... Total dick, and for the most part most of the crew are dicks despite their loyalty.

I'm in my 2nd playthrough and so far you get their loyalty regardless. There is no true renegade / paragon path. It's not at all like the previous games where being a dick would affect the game later on. I wanted to play this one 2nd time around and be a total dick to my crew. But alas, no not going to happen, devs want you to have a nice experience.

 

[mimic]

My biggest issue with the game is quest design. Take the 'Contagion' one. You go to the Medbay on the Nexus, get sent to the Docking Bay, go to two locations there, then to Operations, then back to the Docking Bay, then to three points in space, then to Kedara (which if you don't have a settlement yet you have to go through a loading screen) then finally to the end scene. At that point you get a choice, which MAY impact future games but appears to not have much impact on this one. I would rather if they just gave you options for how you wanted to complete the mission - talk to this person OR this person and it'll play out a little differently depending. The story was fine, but there's very little replay value when the quest just has you running around.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

My biggest issue with the game is quest design. Take the 'Contagion' one. You go to the Medbay on the Nexus, get sent to the Docking Bay, go to two locations there, then to Operations, then back to the Docking Bay, then to three points in space, then to Kedara (which if you don't have a settlement yet you have to go through a loading screen) then finally to the end scene. At that point you get a choice, which MAY impact future games but appears to not have much impact on this one. I would rather if they just gave you options for how you wanted to complete the mission - talk to this person OR this person and it'll play out a little differently depending. The story was fine, but there's very little replay value when the quest just has you running around.

There are tons of those in this game. Feels like hinterlands.

 

[Reverend]

Generally the point of quests like that isn't to focus on just that one and following it to conclusion, but wait until you have a bunch saved up so you have something waiting for you while exploring. or put another way: have a reason to explore.

The problem I have is that some of these are significant to the plot (especially on Kadara) and on your first playthrough, there's no way to know which. So most of the time you have no idea if you're advancing the plot, or just spinning your wheels, which also applies to the game as a whole. Very unfocused and directionless.