Mass Effect: Andromeda

When my too hot today beers wear off I'll give this a go.
Assuming I dont fall asleep first.
Man its hot today.
 
polonyc2 said:
yay to more improved facial animations!...when I finally fire this up the characters might actually look half decent ;)
Click to expand...

Been replaying the previous ME games before moving onto Andromeda so this has been great news.

The changes look much better. Glad to see the team actually cares about their game is trying to correct all the imperfections. Although this guy seems a bit uninformed on how game animation works.
 
Last edited:
Not seeing any difference in HDR...so I'm guessing that was for the Dolby HDR standard. Everything still looks extra bright and violet for me.

Getting a bit further into the game and it definitely feels a lot like Dragon Age Inquisition. Lots of fetch and scan quests keep showing up. They're distracting and very grindy. I do like the gameplay, though. The sniper/shotgun combo has been a long time coming. I like the level-up system, too. The R&D stuff is still clunky, though. It feels like either you have to look things up online or just guess.
 
Domingo said:
Not seeing any difference in HDR...so I'm guessing that was for the Dolby HDR standard. Everything still looks extra bright and violet for me.
Click to expand...

The main problem with HDR which I had was the constant flickering, the HDR would turn off and on causing my screen to go black for a few seconds. This would happen sporadically. Now I don't get that at all.

Domingo said:
Getting a bit further into the game and it definitely feels a lot like Dragon Age Inquisition. Lots of fetch and scan quests keep showing up. They're distracting and very grindy. I do like the gameplay, though. The sniper/shotgun combo has been a long time coming. I like the level-up system, too. The R&D stuff is still clunky, though. It feels like either you have to look things up online or just guess.
Click to expand...

Agree. I am also using the sniper/shotgun combo with the barrier, remnant and turret abilities
 
Played a bit more. Chose to destroy the facility. Was very disappointed to find out that the Kett are just Angara gone bad.
Now I don't know what I have to do but I just shut the game down after escaping from that facility and saving that Moshae whatever.

I think I may be able to stomach the main quest after all.
 
KickAssCop said:
Played a bit more. Chose to destroy the facility. Was very disappointed to find out that the Kett are just Angara gone bad.
Now I don't know what I have to do but I just shut the game down after escaping from that facility and saving that Moshae whatever.

I think I may be able to stomach the main quest after all.
Click to expand...

I think you might need to pay more attention to the dialogs; The Roekar might be Angara gone bad, but the Kett are something different entirely.
 
DWolvin said:
I think you might need to pay more attention to the dialogs; The Roekar might be Angara gone bad, but the Kett are something different entirely.
Click to expand...

I don't think he was talking about the Roekar. I think he meant this:

Kett are made by abducting Angaran and turning them into more Kett via genetic modification. In fact this is how Kett reproduce it seems.
 
Yea, but they want to do that to everyone (and apparently did that in their home galaxy).
 
Still too early in the game. Posted that *spoiler* since it is like 3 hours into the game.
 
Ah- fair enough. I thought that it was clear from (almost) the start that they had arrived from another galaxy and were tools. :)
 
Does the game just keep dishing out fetch missions as you complete the existing ones? I'm still on Eos (after moving the plot forward and getting Jaal) and it feels like they just keep creating new fetch missions one after another. DA: Inquisition had a finite number of missions - does Andromeda? I'm finally at the point where I have no plans to do any more, but my list of random fetch quests is a mile long...and most seem to be Eos specific.
 
Domingo said:
Does the game just keep dishing out fetch missions as you complete the existing ones? I'm still on Eos (after moving the plot forward and getting Jaal) and it feels like they just keep creating new fetch missions one after another. DA: Inquisition had a finite number of missions - does Andromeda? I'm finally at the point where I have no plans to do any more, but my list of random fetch quests is a mile long...and most seem to be Eos specific.
Click to expand...

I believe there is a finite number of side quests. Some only open up after you achieve other quests in the game like planet viability or meeting certain other people/planets, etc. I have been doing pretty much all the side quests as I go along and its rather tedious. Lately I have kind of given up on doing the side quests because it's exhausting, I just find myself skipping through all the dialogue now.
 
Yep- I can confirm that if you go all completionist they do end. But there are a bunch on all the open world planets.
 
I did the regular side quests, but fuck the "find" quests where there are no pointers. pure waste of time to scour the maps, even using a map guide it is still a monumental waste of time.
 
jiminator said:
I did the regular side quests, but fuck the "find" quests where there are no pointers. pure waste of time to scour the maps, even using a map guide it is still a monumental waste of time.
Click to expand...

Yeah a lot of the "Other Tasks" I have just started to ignore. Especially since I started while there were still some broken ones. It is also too annoying to keep bouncing back and forth between worlds just to complete every single little tracker mission. Even with all the maps that are out now showing you where these are, its a pain to do.
 
DWolvin said:
Yea, but they want to do that to everyone (and apparently did that in their home galaxy).
Click to expand...

DWolvin said:
Ah- fair enough. I thought that it was clear from (almost) the start that they had arrived from another galaxy and were tools. :)
Click to expand...

Minor correction:
The Kett are from another Andromeda star cluster, not another galaxy. From what we can tell so far, no one has FTL technology any more advanced than what the Initiative brought with them.

This is a departure from the trilogy where the Mass Effect Relays formed a network of clusters and FTL drives themselves were used largely in-cluster. So, the entirety of Andromeda takes place in a single cluster, that happens to have a lot of 'viable' planets due to advanced terraforming technology.
 
Last edited:
I think I'm just going to bail on the fetch quests. They just aren't fun and they're a bit of a distraction. So far I don't dislike the game. It's not really any worse than the first game, which was also pretty repetitious. Gunplay is probably they best it has been in the series, although I still hate "auto-cover."
 
Domingo said:
I think I'm just going to bail on the fetch quests. They just aren't fun and they're a bit of a distraction. So far I don't dislike the game. It's not really any worse than the first game, which was also pretty repetitious. Gunplay is probably they best it has been in the series, although I still hate "auto-cover."
Click to expand...

One of the better, although again very brief fetch quests is the one on Kadara. Exit the city, turn right and you'll run into buildings. Has some small ties to the 2nd/3rd game. Most of them are indeed crap though.
 
IdiotInCharge said:
Minor correction: The Kett are from another Andromeda star cluster, not another galaxy. From what we can tell so far, no one has FTL technology any more advanced than what the Initiative brought with them.

This is a departure from the trilogy where the Mass Effect Relays formed a network of clusters and FTL drives themselves were used largely in-cluster. So, the entirety of Andromeda takes place in a single cluster, that happens to have a lot of 'viable' planets due to advanced terraforming technology.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I had this exact problem for my friend. I said how can the Tempest jump between systems yet the Normandy (which is larger) needs Mass Relays to jump around.
 
I think I'm about to go full-on into the main story now. I've maxed out my sniper rifle and shotgun skills and I have level 3 versions of both weapons. I'm at least fairly durable based upon how much damage I'm doing. I die here and there, but it's mainly when I'm rushing in or not paying attention. When the screen goes grey, you're pretty much dead...which is a little more sudden than most other games.
I've completed the main stuff on Eos minus the dead bodies and multitudes of collection quests. Ditto with Havarl where there isn't much left to do as far as I can tell.
 
Gasaraki_ said:
Thanks. I had this exact problem for my friend. I said how can the Tempest jump between systems yet the Normandy (which is larger) needs Mass Relays to jump around.
Click to expand...

The Normandy has an FTL drive as well. You see it used several times without a Mass Relay.
 
Gasaraki_ said:
Thanks. I had this exact problem for my friend. I said how can the Tempest jump between systems yet the Normandy (which is larger) needs Mass Relays to jump around.
Click to expand...
The Heleus Cluster is also a magnitude smaller than the Milky Way Galaxy. A satellite galaxy similar to Heleus would measure in the thousands of light years across instead of a major galaxy that would be 100,000+ light years across like Milky Way and Andromeda.
 
Armenius said:
The Heleus Cluster is also a magnitude smaller than the Milky Way Galaxy. A satellite galaxy similar to Heleus would measure in the thousands of light years across instead of a major galaxy that would be 100,000+ light years across like Milky Way and Andromeda.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this except that the Heleus cluster would more likely be an open cluster and not a "satellite galaxy". The Andromeda would have thousands of open cluster scattered throughout. The Milky Way has over a 1000 documented open clusters. A good example is the Pleiades cluster found in the northern hemispheres winter skys (it is naked eye, no telescope/binos needed). That being said the Heleus cluster being scattered around a massive blackhole, and sitting on a gravitational muddy stuff up a bit.
 
doesn't the game only get good after around 6-8 hours?...so the trial might actually have the opposite effect and turn people off
 
polonyc2 said:
doesn't the game only get good after around 6-8 hours?...so the trial might actually have the opposite effect and turn people off
Click to expand...

If you follow the main quest, yes. That's accurate. Still, I enjoyed the game immensely during the trial.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Q-BZ
like this
Never played the trial, but the actual game more or less begins when you get to Eos. It's not an overly exciting planet, but it's necessary for the plot. Havarl is where the game becomes more fun, IMO.
 
I played about 9 hours of multi on my trial- didn't want spoilers. Plus multi is surprisingly fun.
 
Dan_D said:
Keep in mind that EA/BioWare are lazy. The trial we saw before was an earlier build than the one we got on launch day. I don't know if they updated the trial to a newer version or not this time around.
Click to expand...
This trial is showing version 1.09. Facial animations and characters eyes look better than earlier builds I've seen on YouTube.

Played it for 3+ hours and am liking the combat and exploration. Conversations are pretty good as well. I'm not ready to hit the buy button, but it might get me hooked after a few more hours.
 
dark_reign said:
This trial is showing version 1.09. Facial animations and characters eyes look better than earlier builds I've seen on YouTube.

Played it for 3+ hours and am liking the combat and exploration. Conversations are pretty good as well. I'm not ready to hit the buy button, but it might get me hooked after a few more hours.
Click to expand...

The conversations are much deeper than they were in the older games. Unfortunately, a lot of the characters are flatter and less compelling. I'm one of those people who has played the original trilogy so many times I know what each choice results in or what every conversation sounds like. I never skip conversations in the original trilogy when replaying it. I found myself wanting to skip through conversations on the first run through of Andromeda. A lot of the conversations are just tedious. The combat is great, and I always felt like I wanted to get back to that rather than immersing myself in the story. The main quest line is good, but it lacks the gravitas of the original trilogy. Some of the new characters are great, while the rest aren't on par with what we had before. I don't have a problem with Ryder or his/her sarcastic conversation options, but you have to choose wisely here. Even then, I felt like BioWare specifically made the character less awesome than Shepard on purpose. There are times where you want to punch someone or whip out your gun, and not take anyone's shit. Instead Ryder will often back out of a situation or take a more "PC" approach to the situation for lack of a better term.

The game is good despite a long list of faults. I don't know if I'd call it $60 good, but on sale I can recommend it to any Mass Effect fan.
 
Dan_D said:
The conversations are much deeper than they were in the older games. Unfortunately, a lot of the characters are flatter and less compelling. I'm one of those people who has played the original trilogy so many times I know what each choice results in or what every conversation sounds like. I never skip conversations in the original trilogy when replaying it. I found myself wanting to skip through conversations on the first run through of Andromeda. A lot of the conversations are just tedious. The combat is great, and I always felt like I wanted to get back to that rather than immersing myself in the story. The main quest line is good, but it lacks the gravitas of the original trilogy. Some of the new characters are great, while the rest aren't on par with what we had before. I don't have a problem with Ryder or his/her sarcastic conversation options, but you have to choose wisely here. Even then, I felt like BioWare specifically made the character less awesome than Shepard on purpose. There are times where you want to punch someone or whip out your gun, and not take anyone's shit. Instead Ryder will often back out of a situation or take a more "PC" approach to the situation for lack of a better term.

The game is good despite a long list of faults. I don't know if I'd call it $60 good, but on sale I can recommend it to any Mass Effect fan.
Click to expand...
I mostly agree. The story is compelling enough but the execution of the story is not good enough to warrant re-playing the game. I had the same urge to skip conversations, some of the characters are just too flat. Maybe Reyes is the only that was more than a cookie cutter npc.
The combat is too repetitve and I wouldn't call it great. I liked the combat of ME2/ME3 more in retrospect. They were more varied. You're very limited in tactics in Andromeda, and there are just too many enemies. They fell into the trap of making cannon fodder enemies instead of just good enemies that are worthwhile to fight. There are some enemies that are also bullet sponges, like the architect. It just felt artificially dragged out, tedious, and ultimately pointless. No fight should last that long. It again reminded me of DA:I it had the same problem with dragons. When you have to repeat something for long minutes then it becomes a chore, not a challenge. To me the fun in gaming is when you figure out the tactic to defeat enemies, but when you have to hack away at enemies even with the "ideal" tactic that killls your sense of satisfaction. In MEA I constantly found myself trying to avoid fighting, and when it was unavoidable, I wanted it to be over as quickly as possible. Just get it over with was my sentiment. In ME2 / ME3 fighting was fun and rewarding on it's own, even on insanity.
 
Dan_D said:
The conversations are much deeper than they were in the older games. Unfortunately, a lot of the characters are flatter and less compelling. I'm one of those people who has played the original trilogy so many times I know what each choice results in or what every conversation sounds like. I never skip conversations in the original trilogy when replaying it. I found myself wanting to skip through conversations on the first run through of Andromeda. A lot of the conversations are just tedious. The combat is great, and I always felt like I wanted to get back to that rather than immersing myself in the story. The main quest line is good, but it lacks the gravitas of the original trilogy. Some of the new characters are great, while the rest aren't on par with what we had before. I don't have a problem with Ryder or his/her sarcastic conversation options, but you have to choose wisely here. Even then, I felt like BioWare specifically made the character less awesome than Shepard on purpose. There are times where you want to punch someone or whip out your gun, and not take anyone's shit. Instead Ryder will often back out of a situation or take a more "PC" approach to the situation for lack of a better term.

The game is good despite a long list of faults. I don't know if I'd call it $60 good, but on sale I can recommend it to any Mass Effect fan.
Click to expand...
The game does seem like a love/hate it affair. It's too early for me too judge, but I worry the story and eventually the gameplay goes stale after 10 or 20 hours.

$30 doesn't seem like a bad deal, but I might wait for a deeper discount.
 
I loved ME 1 and 2.

As a fan, ME 3 was one of the best games I'd ever played until it shit itself in what should have been the walk off.

ME: A to me, was trash.

All I could think of, when I played it is "Why the hell am I still playing?"

The characters are wooden, and everything else feels like you're just going through the motions.


Don't buy it for more than $20, IMO.
 
For me, I think I like what Mass Effect 1 represented more than the actual game. I liked the story, setting, and characters but feel that the actual game was pretty terrible. Nothing but cruising around an empty planet in the Mako and lousy shooting mechanics. I played through it multiple times, but had minimal fun doing it. I think I just liked the idea of the game.
#2 had vastly better shooting mechanics. Yet getting rid of the Mako (instead of making it better) made it feel like you were only exploring a single building on each planet. The universe felt tiny. Still a really good game, though.
#3 fixed most of my gripes with the previous games, gameplay-wise. I enjoyed playing it a lot. I actually liked the story, too. The whole concept of having an invisible "score" dictating everything was incredibly lame, though. To go through so much over the course of 3 games only to have the finale reliant on an app or MP grinding was insulting.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top