Incorrect. I've been able to group up with friends of mine on Origin and get into the multiplayer without issue.
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Mass Effect: Andromeda
- Thread starter Blade-Runner
- Start date
Incorrect. I've been able to group up with friends of mine on Origin and get into the multiplayer without issue.
Armenius
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Could you enlighten me?
I'm not really certain about doing it in Multiplayer but it seems very difficult to nigh impossible to build your character that way in single player. In earlier Mass Effect games you could get away with builds like that in single player but doing so in ME3's multiplayer always carried risks. While quite effective most of the time, if a banshee or brute grabbed you it was over. This isn't a big deal on bronze matches but it is a problem on Gold and Platinum. As for this game, it may or may not be a problem. I've never used biotics abilities in Andromeda.
You start a match, set it up as a private match. Invite your friends through Origin and then make the match public to fill any slots you don't have filled.
Armenius
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Did that. We sat there for about 10 minutes before giving up.
acairman
[H] Memes of Truth
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I don't know what to tell you, it's always worked for me in both ME3 and MEA.
Im in Afghanistan right now. they have pretty shit internet, damn third world countrys.
Frraksurred
2[H]4U
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Mine arrived via email the day of release (Deep Space Pack), redeemed it through Origin and noticed it in game when I played.
hey did your physical order come with a disk or just a box with a code?
BTW, Mass Effect Andromeda evidently got a patch today. Evidently it fixes a few things like the black screen on startup issue. What's interesting is the patch for the Trial version has a much longer list of improvements. This just about confirms my suspicion that the trial version is based on an earlier build than the retail game. Also in the new, BioWare is apparently considering improvements to the animation stating that it "wants to strongly support the game moving forward." They did a better job with ME3 than they did with ME2 in this area. I'm hopeful BioWare will support this game fairly well although I think the jury is still out on any major animation improvements.
TaintedSquirrel
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Should I start playing now or wait for patches/sales? Not playing anything atm.
I'd start playing. Plenty to like here.
TaintedSquirrel
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GOD'SlittleSERVANT
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New nvidia patch was pushed before the weekend, wasn't it? Maybe that caused it.
surfhick reborn
Weaksauce
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I got stuck under the second shuttle while fighting the second wave of Kett. Fortunately the game didn't set me back too far.
RanceJustice
Supreme [H]ardness
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Those playing on Multiplayer. (preferably on PC)...
What's the deal with the Tutorial Challenge requirement "Complete an APEX Mission" which has the subtext "Successfully extract from an APEX Mission"? I was under the impression that ALL multiplayer missions were "APEX Missions". So I was a live at the end of it and got the extraction bonus...shouldn't that count? So far I can't seem to get it registered.
Next, what is going on with the "special conditions/modifier" missions? For instance right now the Bronze is "Distract enemy forces". Its supposed to have fixed enemy, location etc... and a modifier (in this case "Go For the Eyes" which is extra weak point damage, overall less damage etc..), plus grant extra bonuses both for single player and multiplayer. Now, I set up to Join for one of these and it seemed to be the right game type... but I didn't see any confirmation that I completed any special mission. On top of that, it didn't give me any Mission Funds which the mission says it should reward 10 of them; not to mention the bonuses to in-game money and XP etc.. When this does work, is it something that you can only get the bonus stuff for that special mission once/ Or is it repeatable?
Lastly, anyone having problems with creating public matches? I can join them fine, but public matches that I create I wait for ages and nobody joins. Is this some sort of port forwarding nonsense? Really now, Bioware shouldn't require that kind of thing but if it does, it should be able to tell you that he NAT is wrong, you need to forward certain ports to make yourself connectable et.c.. hell, my Torrent client tells me when I'm not connectable, so a major game like this should be able to do so and tell people what to rectify.
Edit: I should mention that I haven't yet really started single player. I don't know if that should affect multiplayer (I know I can't get the Pathfinder Rewards that drop to single play mode obviously until I start there) but just in case...
What's the deal with the Tutorial Challenge requirement "Complete an APEX Mission" which has the subtext "Successfully extract from an APEX Mission"? I was under the impression that ALL multiplayer missions were "APEX Missions". So I was a live at the end of it and got the extraction bonus...shouldn't that count? So far I can't seem to get it registered.
Next, what is going on with the "special conditions/modifier" missions? For instance right now the Bronze is "Distract enemy forces". Its supposed to have fixed enemy, location etc... and a modifier (in this case "Go For the Eyes" which is extra weak point damage, overall less damage etc..), plus grant extra bonuses both for single player and multiplayer. Now, I set up to Join for one of these and it seemed to be the right game type... but I didn't see any confirmation that I completed any special mission. On top of that, it didn't give me any Mission Funds which the mission says it should reward 10 of them; not to mention the bonuses to in-game money and XP etc.. When this does work, is it something that you can only get the bonus stuff for that special mission once/ Or is it repeatable?
Lastly, anyone having problems with creating public matches? I can join them fine, but public matches that I create I wait for ages and nobody joins. Is this some sort of port forwarding nonsense? Really now, Bioware shouldn't require that kind of thing but if it does, it should be able to tell you that he NAT is wrong, you need to forward certain ports to make yourself connectable et.c.. hell, my Torrent client tells me when I'm not connectable, so a major game like this should be able to do so and tell people what to rectify.
Edit: I should mention that I haven't yet really started single player. I don't know if that should affect multiplayer (I know I can't get the Pathfinder Rewards that drop to single play mode obviously until I start there) but just in case...
M76
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So thanks to the tip from ryuen I was able to start the game a day early.
After about 4-5 hours it's a pretty mixed bag.
The story would be OK if not for the in your face plotholes. Like you're able to fix your visor once, but not twice? That technology suddenly got lost? Why are they using easily breakable glass for a suit visor anyway?
And speaking of lost technology, it seems medi-gel is out. You're no longer able to replenish your health except at supply caches. And you broke your leg? Tough luck you get left behind. I remember at the start of ME2 you healed Wilson's broken leg in a few seconds with medi gel.
These types of "convenient for the plot" things are the worst examples of lazy writing. Or even worse the game was designed by people not even familiar with the Mass Effect universe, who don't give a damn about the lore, just in it for the money types. Which dredges up terrible memories about a certain william c dietz guy.
Story aside I encountered a few bugs as well. Or unintentional behaviour. Like the console is not disabled in the game, and the key that brings it up is right next to your primary power keys. I kept bringing it up instead of using powers. And for some weird reason the game would lock me out of certain functions from time to time. Like I wasn't able to bring up the pause menu or even the journal at times. Not in the middle of action either, but on the nexus being completely idle. Or I wasn't able to initiate conversation with some NPC.
The skill system is almost exactly the same as in ME3, except you're able to put points in other fiels even when it's not your speciality. Which is stupid IMO, there is a reason there are classes in an RPG. Imagine you choose rouge in dragon age, but you're still able to put skill points and acquire skills in magic.
The random filler NPCs act very weird, sometimes they run around like crazed rats or use some weird out of place idle animation.
Some of the main characters look great like the pathfinder, while many others look terrible. As in not ugly but simply badly done. I wouldn't call the pathfinder a handsome guy either, but at least he looks real enough.
But every NPC problem is dwarfed by the "my face is tired" chick. The design, the animations, and for heaven's sake the writing, and even the voice acting treatment that character has got beggars belief. I had to skip trough the conversation with that abomination lest my head would've exploded. And I don't do that lightly, I'm a by the book guy when it comes to lore and story and characters, I even use walk to role-play walking on the station, instead of running like crazy. But I just couldn't stand this.
About conversations: There is an option to disable hints so you wouldn't know which option entails what type of response. I did that, because I like going with my guts, but if the hints were there that would influence my decision, or even completely overrule it. it happened many times on the first 3 games. But somewhere I read that the replies are more certain now, eg. WYSIWYG, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Sometimes your character will go on an entire tangent saying a completely different thing instead of what you selected.
And if that wasn't enough, many of the NPCs are aholes, who you just want to slap, but you're a pussy. There are no "renegade" options. The worst example of this is when a lowly tech guy stops you from taking off and you're forced to make a deal with him, sacrificing the good of the many, instead of just putting him in his place? WTF?! Pathetic.
The biggest renegade interrupt the game had was that you kindly ask someone that just jumped you to get off. LOL. Instead of slapping him around the room. That would've been a renegade interrupt. What is this?
The combat is IMO not great. The new cover system sucks ass. You never know which object will you be able to use cover and you end up running to things that the automated system doesn't recognize as cover. But my bigger gripe is that the enemies are more more bullet sponge than I'd like. I mean I don't like any amount of bullet sponge, I like realistic. This is very far from that, you need 40-45 rounds from an assault rifle to take down a simple grunt. Despite this I wouldn't call the game hard.
I read that it was pretty hard, so I started on normal, but in the 4-5 hours I played it turned out to be pretty easy, maybe slightly harder than normal in ME3, but still I only died once when I first brought up the console accidentally and didn't even realize what was going on before I died.
The feel of the game to me is not Mass Effect at all. Well maybe a tiny bit of that, but mostly Halo. Don't know why but that's just how I see it.
I thought graphics was beautiful until I reached the first explorable planet Eos, which is only mediocre at best. Doesn't look that pretty at all as the "prelude" planet. The barren landscape and the alien structures all reminded me of Halo.
Remember I said I was cautiously optimistic about the game going in, and overall I can't say I'm disappointed. With the amount of shit being flung around in the past few days, I think the game is much better than what that would entail. Still I wouldn't want to make a final judgement so early it can still go downhill or uphill from here.
Oh and driving the nomad sucks ass. ME1 was much better, this feels like a railcar with no physics, no suspension, just a matchbox pushed on the table by a kid.
PS: I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to create a character that looks acceptable, but in the end I was able to get out a pretty good female Ryder. Much better than what I feared. In fact this part of the game doesn't feel all that different from previous ME games.
After about 4-5 hours it's a pretty mixed bag.
The story would be OK if not for the in your face plotholes. Like you're able to fix your visor once, but not twice? That technology suddenly got lost? Why are they using easily breakable glass for a suit visor anyway?
And speaking of lost technology, it seems medi-gel is out. You're no longer able to replenish your health except at supply caches. And you broke your leg? Tough luck you get left behind. I remember at the start of ME2 you healed Wilson's broken leg in a few seconds with medi gel.
These types of "convenient for the plot" things are the worst examples of lazy writing. Or even worse the game was designed by people not even familiar with the Mass Effect universe, who don't give a damn about the lore, just in it for the money types. Which dredges up terrible memories about a certain william c dietz guy.
Story aside I encountered a few bugs as well. Or unintentional behaviour. Like the console is not disabled in the game, and the key that brings it up is right next to your primary power keys. I kept bringing it up instead of using powers. And for some weird reason the game would lock me out of certain functions from time to time. Like I wasn't able to bring up the pause menu or even the journal at times. Not in the middle of action either, but on the nexus being completely idle. Or I wasn't able to initiate conversation with some NPC.
The skill system is almost exactly the same as in ME3, except you're able to put points in other fiels even when it's not your speciality. Which is stupid IMO, there is a reason there are classes in an RPG. Imagine you choose rouge in dragon age, but you're still able to put skill points and acquire skills in magic.
The random filler NPCs act very weird, sometimes they run around like crazed rats or use some weird out of place idle animation.
Some of the main characters look great like the pathfinder, while many others look terrible. As in not ugly but simply badly done. I wouldn't call the pathfinder a handsome guy either, but at least he looks real enough.
But every NPC problem is dwarfed by the "my face is tired" chick. The design, the animations, and for heaven's sake the writing, and even the voice acting treatment that character has got beggars belief. I had to skip trough the conversation with that abomination lest my head would've exploded. And I don't do that lightly, I'm a by the book guy when it comes to lore and story and characters, I even use walk to role-play walking on the station, instead of running like crazy. But I just couldn't stand this.
About conversations: There is an option to disable hints so you wouldn't know which option entails what type of response. I did that, because I like going with my guts, but if the hints were there that would influence my decision, or even completely overrule it. it happened many times on the first 3 games. But somewhere I read that the replies are more certain now, eg. WYSIWYG, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Sometimes your character will go on an entire tangent saying a completely different thing instead of what you selected.
And if that wasn't enough, many of the NPCs are aholes, who you just want to slap, but you're a pussy. There are no "renegade" options. The worst example of this is when a lowly tech guy stops you from taking off and you're forced to make a deal with him, sacrificing the good of the many, instead of just putting him in his place? WTF?! Pathetic.
The biggest renegade interrupt the game had was that you kindly ask someone that just jumped you to get off. LOL. Instead of slapping him around the room. That would've been a renegade interrupt. What is this?
The combat is IMO not great. The new cover system sucks ass. You never know which object will you be able to use cover and you end up running to things that the automated system doesn't recognize as cover. But my bigger gripe is that the enemies are more more bullet sponge than I'd like. I mean I don't like any amount of bullet sponge, I like realistic. This is very far from that, you need 40-45 rounds from an assault rifle to take down a simple grunt. Despite this I wouldn't call the game hard.
I read that it was pretty hard, so I started on normal, but in the 4-5 hours I played it turned out to be pretty easy, maybe slightly harder than normal in ME3, but still I only died once when I first brought up the console accidentally and didn't even realize what was going on before I died.
The feel of the game to me is not Mass Effect at all. Well maybe a tiny bit of that, but mostly Halo. Don't know why but that's just how I see it.
I thought graphics was beautiful until I reached the first explorable planet Eos, which is only mediocre at best. Doesn't look that pretty at all as the "prelude" planet. The barren landscape and the alien structures all reminded me of Halo.
Remember I said I was cautiously optimistic about the game going in, and overall I can't say I'm disappointed. With the amount of shit being flung around in the past few days, I think the game is much better than what that would entail. Still I wouldn't want to make a final judgement so early it can still go downhill or uphill from here.
Oh and driving the nomad sucks ass. ME1 was much better, this feels like a railcar with no physics, no suspension, just a matchbox pushed on the table by a kid.
PS: I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to create a character that looks acceptable, but in the end I was able to get out a pretty good female Ryder. Much better than what I feared. In fact this part of the game doesn't feel all that different from previous ME games.
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silent-circuit
[H]F Junkie
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The load out screen is 8 different kinds of fucked for me. Like 5 fps. Makes no sense. (Yes I'm that slow, just got to landing on Eos 3 hours in.)
Edit: 30 seconds of patience and it's fine. What the hell is wrong with this game and camera / perspective changes?
Edit: 30 seconds of patience and it's fine. What the hell is wrong with this game and camera / perspective changes?
Brackle
Old Timer
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- Jun 19, 2003
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- 8,567
I did read in another forum some people closed MSI Afterburner, and it fixed some of the FPS issues.
Could be the overlay...
Could be the overlay...
silent-circuit
[H]F Junkie
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I'll try turning off the Origin overlay and Nvidia Shadowplay or whatever they're calling it these days and see if that helps. Sadly I don't use Afterburner so it's not that in my case or that would've been an easy fix.
Edit: disabling Shadowplay did nothing. Testing without "Origin In Game" now.
Edit2: nope, still shit. They better fix this -- maybe a SLI issue but fuck them, they publically said they'll support mGPU and I'm holding them to it. Going to play to the last 30 or so minutes of the trial and wait for a confirmed fix or they don't get my money.
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Afterburner caused it. I turned it off and the game runs now. Weird it did not cause issues initially. I was running it with the trial.
Oh and the bit about fixing the visor once but not twice? Yeah. Baaaaad writing. Some things good, some things gawd awful.
Oh and the bit about fixing the visor once but not twice? Yeah. Baaaaad writing. Some things good, some things gawd awful.
Brackle
Old Timer
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It also did this with the release of BF4 BF:hardline and BF1. It looks like this might be a Frostbite Engine initial issue. Glad it worked!
IdiotInCharge
NVIDIA SHILL
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- Jun 13, 2003
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- 14,675
Without any help (thanks EA!), I went back and replayed the rescue, and was able to open the bridge.
It does seem like there are random bugs in this game. And by random, I mean they occur sometimes, and sometimes not. I didn't do anything different :/.
Decided to buy the game. Started a new game as Scott and the face animations for him are MUCH better than they are for Sara. Gotta say the trial ended at the wrong place. It should have continued until you finished the Eos quest chain to colonize the planet. That moment when you finally bring down colonists just feels so good and is such a great moment. Plus the vault was just a fun dungeon. Both of those things would have made me instantly pre-order the game if EA had allowed us to experience it in the trial.
So how is it? My friend wants to buy it, and I don't know what to tell him. Worth a buy?
Mchart
Supreme [H]ardness
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- Aug 7, 2004
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- 6,552
I'm enjoying it. I honestly don't have a problem with the facial expressions.
My only real complaint is that the music isn't as good as what the prior games had.
My only real complaint is that the music isn't as good as what the prior games had.
M76
[H]F Junkie
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It's more like a good story that sometimes has lazy writing in it. The game overall despite the errors seems very polished and substantial.
KickAssCop
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Game looks glorious on PS4. Almost no jaggies and 4K. However, some performance issues especially when there are tons of effects and too many idiots shooting at you.
Liking the game thus far but not a fan of animations and dialog delivery. Seems like people were asked at gun point to record the lines.
Other than that, intrigued by the storyline.
Liking the game thus far but not a fan of animations and dialog delivery. Seems like people were asked at gun point to record the lines.
Other than that, intrigued by the storyline.
SilverSliver
[H]F Junkie
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I'm having trouble getting motivated past 2 planets viable. It feels like NoMansSky plot depth. No spoilers, but is there a non-obvious plot twist coming up? I don't know if I can make it, if not. I'm on the shithole ice planet and it's just 24/7 annoying blizzard. Who thought playing an exploration based game where a whole planet you can't see what you are exploring was fun?
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Sprayingmango
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2012
- Messages
- 1,259
Yeah...I'm having the same problem. Motivation to play is just....not there. meh
I guess I'm just different. I'm enjoying the hell out of this and frankly I think parts of it are downright gorgeous. It's sucked me right in.
Numerous outlets have said: Stick it out past the first two planets and it takes off. That's a known quantity.
Numerous outlets have said: Stick it out past the first two planets and it takes off. That's a known quantity.
GMG was real sketchy with the release of Andromeda. I originally pre-order Andromeda with them, but a few days later they posted a message saying the keys would not be released until the European release day, effectively eliminating the entire point of a pre-order. Lucky enough I was able to get my money back and just paid the higher price through origin. Not impressed with GMG on this one.
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I've had this issue too. It's only with certain save files. If I go back to the immediate save before that the game loads fine.
The game has been patched at least once since the new drivers came out. The patch may be responsible.
It's not so much plot holes as much as it is a lack of understanding on your part concerning how the technology works in the game universe. The Omni-gel was used to fix a cracked visor. Omni-gel could have been used to fabricate a new one entirely, but probably not before Ryder suffocated. As for the other two things, there are possible explanations for this. First, Medi-Gel may be a "Milky Way" thing. You may simply never find it outside Initiative bases. Anything like it in Andromeda is likely incompatible with the Council races. Medi-gel is also distributed through the hard suit via conduits. It can be applied directly, as it was in Wilson's case but Wilson wasn't in a hostile environment. The Initiative suits aren't necessarily the same quality as the ones worn by military personnel back in the Milky Way Galaxy. The helmet design and lack of hard plates supports this. If you'll recall, at the start of the game your only weapon is an M3 Predator. The Initiative suit is essentially the lowest grade armor in the game. From what I can tell, the Andromeda Initiative was largely funded privately, or by siphoning military budgets. Some things may have been done for cost reasons. Ark Hyperion had all the blueprints to fabricate a lot of advanced Alliance weaponry but didn't bring anything but the basics. Not only is there a finite capacity on the Ark but the Initiative may have gone light with weapons and military grade armor because it didn't want to appear as an alien invasion in the Heleus Cluster.
I'd agree that some explanation for some things would be nice but if you are up to speed on the lore in the original trilogy, some of this stuff isn't hard to figure out.
I've seen a few issues as well. Most are animation related, but I've experienced some of what you have.
Seriously now, pay ATTENTION to the game. The reason you can do this is because of the SAM implant. When Alec Ryder starts showing skills and abilities no one else knew about, Liam comments on it. What he's doing shouldn't be possible.
I haven't seen too many odd animations in background NPCs. As for the quality of the characters, we saw the same shit in the earlier games. I'm not excusing it but I suspect that some were created earlier (like 5 years ago) while others were more recently modeled and textures. Incongruence in games that have really long development cycles aren't uncommon. As for Scott Ryder's appearance, he seems like a real guy. I don't have a huge problem with that.
I'm far more disturbed by my guns floated away from Ryder's body during cut scenes, or PeeBee's backwards Carnifex.
BioWare has always done this. SWTOR, Mass Effect and Dragon Age all have this problem. What you choose is only the gist of what the character is really going to say. I like the new system because all it tells you the gist and tone of what will be said. If you stick to a certain tone often enough the game's auto-dialog in certain areas is supposed to match the tone you've set for the character. I like it personally. Plain Paragon and Renegade choices are gone now leaving you to make the choices more naturally. One must also consider, that Ryder isn't a Council Spectre. While he has a lot of authority he isn't effectively above the law the way Shepard was. Shepard, regardless of how you try to play him or her, is a person of extremes all around. If I have anything against Ryder being different its that. Shepard was always larger than life which is arguably more fun (though less realistic) than someone like Ryder who is an ordinary guy thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Then again BioWare stated that they wanted Ryder to start out an ordinary person rather than the hero Shepard was before ME1 even began.
To some extent I agree with this. Consider the circumstances though. You aren't really in a position to kill people randomly. nor can you afford to treat them as badly as Shepard would have. There are a handful though that do deserve to be punched.
I only remember PeeBee doing that. I just let her sit on my junk.
I'm going to have to disagree with you in a number of areas concerning this. I'm not having any issues with the cover. The stick cover system in the old games was fucking annoying. I'll take the few issues I've seen in this game over those. I've been able to use some stuff as partial cover that was perhaps too short to even bother with. The enemies can also shoot over it if they are tall enough. In the old games it was practically an impenetrable barrier that would only allow you to get shot if you stood up behind it.
Now, the whole "realistic" approach to combat that people ask for isn't what you want. You assume that it would make enemies less of a bullet sponge but that isn't necessarily true. In real combat not much is certain. I've heard of cases where people have taken over a dozen rounds of 9mm and .40S&W and still continued to fight. I've heard of other cases where one bullet that shouldn't have done much dropped someone in one hit. One thing that has to be considered is Kett armor, Kett physiology and shielding. The Milky Way weapons were not designed to fight them. Also, they get more powerful as you upgrade them. If there is one thing I hate about the combat its that its somewhat gear dependent the way it was in Mass Effect one. This is where the RPG mechanics interfere with shooting mechanics.
If you are only 4 or 5 hours into it, then you can't really say that the combat will always be like that or that some of the guns don't make shorter work of the enemies. I can say that some of them do. That said, I think some weapon balance adjustments are needed. Shotguns are OP and Assault Rifles / Pistols need to get buffed.
It is a bit harder than ME3 was. I'd say, like ME3 compared to ME2, each difficulty is about a notch above the previous game's. What gets people into trouble in Andromeda is charging in with powers and limited shotgun rounds or letting themselves get flanked by the Kett. If you aren't careful you can get overwhelmed by some of the tougher enemies. Again, at 4-5 hours in you haven't seen anything yet.
It does feel like Mass Effect to me. That said, it is different and should feel different due to being in another Galaxy. I expected that. More to that point, each previous game had a distinct feel to it that was different than the previous installment. Even ME3, which used many of ME2's assets felt much different. I will agree with the Halo comment though. The armors have some Halo-Esque feel to them at times. The Remnant have a similar visual style as the Forerunners / Prometheans in Halo 4 / 5. Mass Effect Andromeda's version is far more awe inspiring in my opinion. The underground vaults are spectacular.
Eos is a fucking desert. I'm not sure what you expected. The environments are more spectacular in other parts of the game. That's for sure but again I'm not sure what you thought you'd see in a rocky, sandy shithole.
I think it gets better as you go. Reviewers tend to echo that sentiment with rare exceptions. Effectively, my only complaint is that the amount of side quests can feel daunting. They generally seem more relevant than what we saw in previous games. That is, the side quests usually have some bearing on the main story. They may not impact the outcome, but they feel like part of it.
Bullshit. The Nomad actually handles somewhat like a vehicle. The Mako never did.
The character creator sucks ass. I generally play the male versions of the protagonists (Male Shepard etc.) so I am less concerned for the character's appearance and take the default. I did attempt to mess with it a bit and customize both. I think you can get good results out of it but the interface for the customizer is slow and clunky.
The only thing I've noticed is some lag in the menus. I don't have it in game outside of rare occasions on the Tempest. Afterburner never changed things one way or another for me.
Applying a bonding agent to a cracked visor is not the same as having to manufacture a new one out of goop and install it before running out of air. There is bad writing in the game, but that specific detail isn't an example of that.
The game is fucking huge. Some issues are inevitable. This is especially true for errors that are caused by things BioWare didn't account for. I think my extra weapons floating away from Ryder's body in cut scenes is largely due to BioWare not planning for someone to level that ability up and equip those weapons so early in the game. By the end of EOS I was carrying three or four weapons.
They were sending keys out on Tuesday. It's not really sketchy it's just that they were at the mercy of their supplier. GMG doesn't get keys directly from EA (the page for ME: A states that the source is an authorized distributor) so the distributor they went through was probably based out of some European county.