Tony_Tarantula on 23/4/2017 at 03:09
Eh, don't get me wrong...I'm writing in a bit of a bitter tone but I'm actually kind of sad about the whole thing. It used to be that Bioware made truly great RPGs, with stories that blended both the epic and the personal seamlessly. Even today there isn't a lot that stands up to Baldur's Gate 2 for Western RPGs and KOTOR is still the best Star Wars game ever released (unless you prefer space sims, then it's TIE Fighter). Even the first Mass Effect
Their more recent games are written more like crappy fan fiction...and after four strikes in a row (DA:2, ME3, DA:I, Andromeda) I have to admit that the studio I used to love is a zombie at this point....the shambling corpse kept animated by the corporate parasite controlling the rotting remains of it's brain.
I was probably being a bit over-broad. It isn't specifically America that is completely incapable of producing engaging fiction. It's that anything out of the sanitized, soulless corporate wasteland is.
And to the point about it being a "blank slate". That's not why.
Revan was a "blank slate". The Bhaalspawn was a "blank slate". The Spirit Monk was a "blank slate". The Gray Warden was a "blank slate". Every single one of those games managed to have characters who were interesting and engaging. In Persona the protagonist is a very literal "blank slate" and in that series every main character in them will feel like they could be a best friend with you in real life by the end of the game.
All of those are "kick some ass, save the day, and get the girl on top" kind of heroes (nevermind that's exactly what Geralt does).
Let's not blame it on game mechanics and put the blame where it lies: piss poor writing.
Quote:
but you're able to know what their gym schedules are like through... what, informational osmosis via sniffing chemtrails?
By looking at a group photo of the writers.
Starker on 23/4/2017 at 04:41
I would not say that the writing in Andromeda is poor. I went in expecting "my face is tired" level of writing, but it's actually the exception rather than the rule. There's nothing wrong with the vast majority of the writing.
Also, I like the grand space opera ideas that the game throws at me. There have been decisions where I literally had to walk away and think about it. Like for example do you destroy the enemy's research that can be used to destroy a planet or do you keep it for your side? Do you kill a ruthless water merchant on a planet where the merchant has been the only one keeping outlaws in check? Do you destroy an enemy's base used for turning people into enemy soldiers or do you leave it intact with the hope of rescuing the people?
The worldbuilding has been pretty good too and there's quite a bit of variety in the environments. Whether it's a planet with overgrown jungles or a planet in an ice age, they have been a real pleasure to explore. Especially considering that it's the first game of a new studio, Mass Effect really shines in this respect, although part of it is certainly in no small part thanks to the Frostbite engine.
DaBeast on 20/5/2017 at 22:05
Finally forced myself to finish it.
The writing might suck compared to the original trilogy, which had some of it's own issues here and there. True, the "my face is tired" is a rare exception of bad awful dialogue, but the rest is either serviceable or so dull I ended up skipping. Everything from core concept, initial arc, character development, interactions etc, all of it is weak compared to the originals.
The actual mission/game design is some of the worst I've seen in any game, it might have been more forgiveable if the campaign map screen transitions weren't so painfully slow and annoyingly unskippable.
The crew characters, being the definition of dull and two dimensional, makes enduring this shitty design unrewarding. So, for example, when the awful progression design forces me to trek through 4 planets, 8 landing/takeoff cutscenes and all the god awful transitioning between systems just to have a "oh, this is where I'm supposed to give a shit about these people" two lines of dialogue conversation...just fucking...ugh!
The character model artwork, like I said in previous post, looks so bad its intentional. I don't buy for a second that it's just uncanny valley due to graphics, especially given they can clearly make a cute/hunk characters here and there. It's either a lack of time or somebody trying to show us that not everyone has to be pretty (maybe I've been reading too much tinfoil shittery on reddit). Also, the Angara look ridiculous and all the females seem to have one voice actress.
So,
Bad Points:
* Boring crew characters
* Tired writing
* Weapons were kind of crap
* Team mates feel underpowers as usual, but more so.
* I wasn't fussed on the weapon/armour reserch/upgrade system. Rather, it felt like it needed a bit more refinement.
* Plot could have worked, I like that it's kind of a take from a civilian perspective rather than veteran military, but it makes so little difference it seems pointless, especially as it is never really explored or has any actual effect on the plot or gameplay.
* I feel sorry for the playtesters having to sit through all of that repeatedly, maybe they were allowed to skip cutscenes.
* I didn't like the open class thing, though the skills kind of looked a bit boring anyway.
Good Points:
* The scenery looks nice.
* That one part of Eos had a nice, eerie alien feel to it, result of visuals and ambient sound. I liked that.
* The remnant dungeons had just enough variation so that it wasn't a chore.
* Architect fights were kind of spicy (I didn't notice the loot crates they dropped until the third or fourth one, kicking myself)
/rant
Its entirely possible that I'll soften up a bit and come to appreciate aspects of it. I did quit ME1 for about a year before going back and trying to like it, then actually loved it. It's also possible that despite my attempt to ignore all news about the game, I might have let my experience become tainted by how politicised everything is now.
EvaUnit02 on 13/6/2017 at 23:19
Glitch montage of a game still in need of patching.
[video=youtube;RSSAjoZDYk8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSSAjoZDYk8[/video]
Starker on 9/7/2017 at 22:12
So, I finally finished the game, concluding the adventures of Mumen Ryder and the dysfunctional crew of the Tempest. It looks like I'm the only person who liked this game (or at least the complete opposite to everyone in this thread), which probably goes some ways towards explaining why the studio is getting gutted and the series is being put on ice, but I really feel that a lot of the hate the game receives is undeserved. I kept waiting to see the disaster that the game was supposed to be and it never happened. From a scale of 0-10 where 5 is average, 6 is above average and 7 is good, I think this game is a solid 6, verging on 7. For context, the first game would be a 7 and the second game would be a 5 in my book.
That is not to say that the game is without flaws:
* It lacks polish and occasionally there are bugs and glitches and poor animations and odd dialogue lines that show that the game was rushed out prematurely, but they are nowhere near as ubiquitous as the critics would have you believe.
* The story is more scattered thanks to having several open world sandbox levels. In a story focused game this is necessarily a trade-off, but on the other hand it does add some exploration that has been absent since the MAKO sections of the first game.
* The combat is the best I've seen in a Mass Effect game -- which is to say it's the least miserable. It seems that there really isn't much you can do to make cover-based shooting tolerable, but the added mobility and enemies that aggressively flush you out of cover do help make it somewhat more interesting. I guess Yahtzee was right and jetpacks really do make everything better.
* The interface is almost as bad as in the first game. Almost. And the first one was so outstandingly bad that they teach it in design classes.
What I liked about this game, though, was the space opera fantasy it delivers -- the over the top melodramatic kind where the fates of entire galaxies are on the line and that you rarely see in videogames, save the odd strategy game or space sim here and there. And Mass Effect Andromeda actually has a fair bit of it to offer, if you are willing to look. It's kind of like a season of Star Trek -- it might look a bit silly at times when the captain goes on a planet and fights a rubber monster, but it's the ideas that it conveys that count. For example, the Angara are in essence Star Trek aliens, who are essentially humans with some feature vastly exaggerated. Like Romulans are humans, but scheming and devious, the Angara are essentially humans, but emotional and dramatic, always larger than life. And there's a sense of overarching idealism and optimism that's very much Star Trek.
Also, I was impressed with some situations where you really had to consider your approach carefully, like the way the Roekaar conflict was handled, the choice you had to make with the Angaran AI, the choice you made with the Asari pathfinder, etc. The game presented some interesting ethical dilemmas where had to seriously think about some of the choices and consider the implications. Would be too bad if there wasn't a follow-up to some of those in the form of a sequel.
Tony_Tarantula on 9/7/2017 at 22:57
Quote:
What I liked about this game, though, was the space opera fantasy it delivers -- the over the top melodramatic kind where the fates of entire galaxies are on the line and that you rarely see in videogames, save the odd strategy game or space sim here and there. And Mass Effect Andromeda actually has a fair bit of it to offer, if you are willing to look. It's kind of like a season of Star Trek -- it might look a bit silly at times when the captain goes on a planet and fights a rubber monster, but it's the ideas that it conveys that count. For example, the Angara are in essence Star Trek aliens, who are essentially humans with some feature vastly exaggerated. Like Romulans are humans, but scheming and devious, the Angara are essentially humans, but emotional and dramatic, always larger than life. And there's a sense of overarching idealism and optimism that's very much Star Trek.
So everyone is like humans, but with exaggerated quirks?
Starker on 10/7/2017 at 00:34
The Angara are like humans, but with exaggerated emotions and a culture shaped around that. That means large closely knit families, lots of arguments, emphasis on physical contact, etc.
Sulphur on 10/7/2017 at 03:58
I think he meant that was how all the aliens are designed.
If ME1 was a 7 and ME2 was a 5 on your scale, I think it's fair to say lots of people don't share that opinion. Then again, mine skews from the average too: for me, both were a solid 7/7.5, because I liked the idea of ME1 but the execution wasn't great, and ME2 was Bioware's 'all right, we're putting our hands up here and saying, "We couldn't fix ME1's problems so have more guns and convos instead"' moment.
At least for me, giving ME:A a chance is pretty unlikely as it seems to have learned the wrong lessons from DA:I in terms of gameplay. I usually play Bioware games regardless if they're able to wrap a decent story around the experience (ME1, Jade Empire), but I have little love for amateur hour storytelling and busywork design these days. From 'my face is tired' to everything about the bro-bro companions to what looks like extremely tepid questing, this looks like ME with fewer highs and fewer lows, which means it's essentially been napalmed by mediocrity.
I'll consider getting it on sale for a low enough price.
