Mass Effect: Andromeda

Tup3x said:
ME2 has perfect amount of content and quality was solid. It is one of those games that you want to play again and not feel burned when doing so. If I get "oh, no this shit again" feeling when I haven't even finished the game it's unlikely that I ever manage to do another playthrough. DA:I is a fine example of that.


Still waiting for them to fix this... Did they stop patching already?
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Yeah, I disliked how off tangent the side quests in ME2 went but IMO they had higher cinematic quality than most of ME:A's. Ironically most conversations in this game have that odd camera angle where you can only see the side profiles of the characters faces after panning to the side. That and in general uninteresting backgrounds dilute the overall look that ME2 achieved.

I don't find this game to be bad and most of the complaints I read are unnoticeable to me. My biggest dislike in this game is the inventory management, which gets a bit better, but it is one of those games where you need to constantly look around and pick up loot. I sometimes gloss over the nice backgrounds, conversations and the like because I saw some remains or minerals to pick through in the distance.

I get occasional freezing when landing/taking off of a planet to. Aside from those two issues, the most annoying thing is the poor performance in the Tempest and stuttering cutscenes. The dialogue is indeed more childish than Shepard's, but I find it fits the look of my character fairly well. She looks younger and comes off as less experienced so it feels alright to me. I don't find the animations to be poor honestly, aside from the mouth bug every now and then.

When you play a string of good missions the game can be fun though. The bad guys this time around are generic and dull, so the overall story is weak even compared to ME2. But the good missions are fun enough to carry the game. The problem is when you take on a few fetch quest missions in a row... then your entertainment value dips down.

I have not finished the game yet, but it seems like a decent title in its own right. Worth a play through. From what I have seen so far, it is no classic like the original trilogy though.
 
It's actually surprising how large difference conversation camera can make. I'd like to see the person who is talking but often that's just impossible in ME:A. Heck, sometimes the npc you are talking to just walks around and you don't even see him/her. In most conversations you are looking at Ryder's back of the head too. That really hurts the immersion and "cinematic conversation" feeling.
 
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jiminator said:
they released the initial patch. Not sure what they are working on now. I know multiplayer is due for a rebalance. But I have completed my kit as far as I am willing to take it, meaning I am not willing to grind out 2500 gold games to get all the ultra rare unlocks.
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I've also shelved the game until MP gets balanced. The SP isn't interesting enough to keep me playing.
 
Armenius said:
The SP isn't interesting enough to keep me playing.
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say it ain't so :arghh:

I can usually find something to enjoy about every game and rarely do I buy games that are plain awful where I don't want to continue...closest bad game I can remember playing was Homefront (2011) and I even finished that (luckily it was really short)
 
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Tup3x said:
It's actually surprising how large difference conversation camera can make. I'd like to see the person who is talking but often that's just impossible in ME:A. Hecks, sometimes the npc you are talking to just walks around and you don't even see him/her. In most conversations you are looking at Ryder's back of the head too. That really hurts the immersion and "cinematic conversation" feeling.
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That really annoys me, as mentioned above.
Q-BZ said:
It ain't so for myself and plenty of other people. ;)
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The SP certainly isn't that bad. I've yet to finish it, but it needed a stronger main story and less side content. The ratio to shoot for should be 66% main to 33% side content. Last mission I got around to finishing was Liam's loyalty mission. Minor spoiler ahead, but because a lot of these quests have a "on hold" aspect, and a lot of flying back and fourth to different systems I tend to stay on a planet and finish up a few quests while I am there. This one kept getting pushed off. I honestly do not recall how I got this mission or its purpose for it. The mission itself had some tongue in check type of humor so I enjoyed it even though I didn't know what I was doing there... and at the end I got into a fairly big argument with Liam. It just seemed so out of place because I forgot the premise of the mission and my dialogue choice was essentially a flip of a coin.

The summary for missions, up to the point you're at, could be better to prevent this. The Codex still has the same issue all the ME games had, and that is if you see an entry that is unmarked but need to scroll past it, all the others you have not read will now be marked as read. I can't seem to find entries for important locations or people I want to look up for references to. The Moshea (spelling) is an example. Another instance where I got caught between various side missions, and her references keep popping up but I have no idea why she is so important. And I can't seem to find a Codex entry explaining her importance.

Small things like this just hurt the flow of the story. Some of the well designed missions can be fun such as the Liam mission mentioned above, but with a loose understanding of how they fit into the story the experienced is diluted. It must have been 2-3 days back that I first heard Liam's reasons for the mission and I certainly didn't remember it when I got around to it.
 
So I'd heard that the level cap was 130- I hit 131 finishing this third run on Insanity (first on Normal, second an NG+ on Hardcore, third a second NG+ on Insanity). Able to put points in every ability, but I never strayed from my tried-and-true concussion, incinerate, and overload. And I was worried about getting the Insanity achievement- sometimes after dying, enemies would drop really quick, as if difficulty was momentarily dropped to Normal or some such. Thankfully, the award is in there, so I don't have to do another Insanity run!


[on difficulty: higher levels aren't really like ME2 and ME3 where enemies gained more 'protection' at the Hardcore and Insanity levels such that biotics were almost useless, which is why I preferred using 'soldier' and 'technician' skills; instead, enemies appear to have three adjustments: they're tougher, but with no extra protections, so say stronger shields, armor, more health, and they also hit harder, meaning that no protection is going to keep Ryder safe in a crossfire, and enemies tend to move around, flank, and focus quicker making things like headshots more difficult; in the end, higher difficulty levels make the game a little more worthwhile, but mostly just mean fights take longer-- also, I swear that life support ran out quicker, Voeld was especially trying!]

[on stuff I didn't finish in any playthrough: I managed to get nine of the eleven Remnant Data Cores satisfying the quest, and I do recommend using guides such as this: http://masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Task:_Remnant_Data_Cores -- however, there is an achievement called 'Cryptographer' that has you complete 20 Remnant puzzles, and that I missed. Essentially, if you complete Cryptographer, from my research, you'll be able to get all eleven Remnant Data Cores as well, see here: https://www.trueachievements.com/viewcomment.aspx?commentid=1078548#vch -- beyond that, the typically bugged-but-completed quests are there, and I managed to bug another for the first time, the one where you scan an object on Voeld; basically, my life support ran out, and I had to hop in the truck; leaving the area broke it. For these quests on higher difficulties, use your Life Support consumables!]
 
IdiotInCharge said:
So I'd heard that the level cap was 130- I hit 131 finishing this third run on Insanity (first on Normal, second an NG+ on Hardcore, third a second NG+ on Insanity). Able to put points in every ability, but I never strayed from my tried-and-true concussion, incinerate, and overload.
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My most used in the old games. This time I am using Concussion, Remnant VI, Singulatiry and now the biotic charge. It is amazing I didn't use incinerate much in this game. But those three, along with Singulatiry, are without a doubt the most useful. A lot of the other powers seem fairly worthless. Remnant VI seemed better than the combat drone but is more or less the same thing.
 
I'd heard that NG+ was fairly buggy. Is that true? If I'm seeing people talk about third playthroughs with high levels and such I'm guessing that's hit and miss like a lot of other things?
 
Q-BZ said:
I'd heard that NG+ was fairly buggy. Is that true? If I'm seeing people talk about third playthroughs with high levels and such I'm guessing that's hit and miss like a lot of other things?
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No more or less than a base game playthrough, none of which prevents you from completing the main story and side quests or has any effect on gameplay.
 
Q-BZ said:
I'd heard that NG+ was fairly buggy. Is that true? If I'm seeing people talk about third playthroughs with high levels and such I'm guessing that's hit and miss like a lot of other things?
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I've had less trouble out of the NG+ play through. Of course I completed the game on v1.04 and I'm going through the NG+ on v1.05.
 
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Tup3x said:
It's actually surprising how large difference conversation camera can make. I'd like to see the person who is talking but often that's just impossible in ME:A. Hecks, sometimes the npc you are talking to just walks around and you don't even see him/her. In most conversations you are looking at Ryder's back of the head too. That really hurts the immersion and "cinematic conversation" feeling.
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During some conversations you can move the camera. I didn't figure that out for a long time but it helps in the "lesser" conversations where it does not put Ryder in a fixed position.
 
Generic question.
I like the game, but don't want to have to have side conversations with all the characters, have intimate relations, and read the stupid emails, etc.

If I don't do these things will I be able finish the game?

What will I miss besides deeper story?
 
I'm done with the main story and finishing off the remaining quests. Yes, just follow what is under "priority missions". Be careful though, some character loyalty missions pop up there occasionally but for the most part those are all just the main story quests. You can probably finish the game in 20 hours if you skip the extras. Easily the shortest main story in an ME game. Some of the side quests are decent enough, such as the loyalty missions. Those are worth playing. Some side quests are good, but lots are very generic. I'd suggest playing the loyalty missions at least, because the main story is very underwhelming.

The premise of the story was excellent, but they missed so many opportunities. Lots of things just make you stop and think "what? why is this happening?". The game itself is a solid, standard open world concept but it lacks the creative thoughtfulness needed to make the setting and story shine. Its like they looked at the previous games and copied everything, even if it didn't fit into this story, and pasted it into an open world template. Minor spoiler ahead: They could've elaborated a lot more on the power struggles within the Nexus that could have had longer term impact in sequels. But for the most part, this was brushed aside.

I'd probably give this game an 8/10 though, all things considered. Comparing it to your typical open world action adventure shooter/RPG, it holds up decently. To really standout it needed someone (or people) more creative designing the settings and story.
 
there is no witcher quality storytelling here. no interesting twists and turns. There are the main missions, and under the horrible menus you can also find the loyalty missions and if/where they are waiting on something. That being said it is a good game. Considering the mechanics of the gameplay it is easily one of the best in its category
 
Armenius said:
I've also shelved the game until MP gets balanced. The SP isn't interesting enough to keep me playing.
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Bioware discussed some upcoming changes to MP yesterday. We should have a patch from them in the next week or so and it should have fixes for the big complaints (many weapons underperforming, powers and combos underwhelming, crashes and disconnects).

DeadByDawn said:
Generic question.
I like the game, but don't want to have to have side conversations with all the characters, have intimate relations, and read the stupid emails, etc.

If I don't do these things will I be able finish the game?

What will I miss besides deeper story?
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You can skip conversations both with your crew and in city hubs and not miss much I would say. As Flogger mentioned the loyalty missions for your crew are pretty good (plus you need them to fully unlock your skills to rank 6) so when you board your ship and hear that "Cora is looking for you" or whatever, might be good to go see her.

For everything else I'd say skip it if you are not interested in more story.
 
Finally encountered few really annoying bugs.
Once where I died and was dead every time I reloaded the game, so I had to go back to a 25 minutes earlier save, and second during game load where it just kept loading and loading shaders all over again.
 
I am late to the party but finally picked it up this weekend. Yes some of the dialogue and voice acting are pretty cringey but I really enjoyed the game. Once I got to the vault I was really taken back by the visuals, (esp in Ultra Wide Res 3440x1440p) .
 
70 hours in and started getting back to back to back dx crashes. Tried stock card clocks to no avail. Tried repairing the files via origin. Same result. Anyone with similar issues? Sure would like to beat this.
 
Oh. I ran into my first big boss. The architect? Big flying metal worm thingy on the frozen world. I took a few shots at it, died quick and went to bed. I gather these guys take a while to kill? I think that I am way too low level to engage anyway.
 
cvinh said:
I am late to the party but finally picked it up this weekend. Yes some of the dialogue and voice acting are pretty cringey but I really enjoyed the game. Once I got to the vault I was really taken back by the visuals, (esp in Ultra Wide Res 3440x1440p) .
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The first time I entered a vault it was spectacular on my setup. 4K, HDR, 49" curved etc.
 
spaceman said:
Oh. I ran into my first big boss. The architect? Big flying metal worm thingy on the frozen world. I took a few shots at it, died quick and went to bed. I gather these guys take a while to kill? I think that I am way too low level to engage anyway.
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Not really that bad. In fact I thought the battle was really fun. Get those legs!
 
spaceman said:
Oh. I ran into my first big boss. The architect? Big flying metal worm thingy on the frozen world. I took a few shots at it, died quick and went to bed. I gather these guys take a while to kill? I think that I am way too low level to engage anyway.
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The Architect on Voeld is the worst one. They do take awhile to kill compared to other stuff but its not too bad.
 
zamardii12 said:
Not really that bad. In fact I thought the battle was really fun. Get those legs!
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To add, you learn the rhythm pretty quick, and even on Insanity, they're not that 'hard'.

Mostly, like any other Mass Effect game, get behind cover! Don't get hit with the fast-firing 'gun', that'll burn you down fastest, don't stand next to the grenades when they go off, jump out of the circle when the main attack comes... move, shoot, reload.
 
And on Voeld- fight next to a heater :D.

(in every position of the Voeld Architect, you can typically be in a building/behind a wall/under a ceiling that is also temperature safe)
 
Some of the autists at MECoOp found out that difficulty scaling in MP is tied to the last SP difficulty used by the host.
Holy shit. I lost sleep last night thinking about this. I've been playing SP on Insanity since the beginning and have hosted my fair share of games. To think all this time the MP while I was hosting was 5x harder for everyone than it should have been.

So basically if you're hosting games, you want to first load a single player save, change the difficulty to Narrative, and then host. I wonder if this will be fixed in the forthcoming patch.
 
Wow- that explains so much! Some days I am papercutting everything, other times it's fun.
 
Yeah, I usually host after having gotten grouped with >1000ms ping players somehow, and these last few games I've tried with the game set to Insanity have been... trying.
 
Fuck yeah.

Conversation options will no longer appear “greyed out” if new content is available

Maximum Nexus Level increased to 29

Special items will not carry over into New Game+

Weapon and armor vendors now carry inventory once player reaches Level 61
 
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