• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Early impressions from RPS for ME:A. It's... not good

Mindwipe

Member
I'm concerned about ME:A in lots of ways, but to honest if it didn't have boring slow planet scanning mechanics and an inventory management UI that make you wish genuine harm on it's creative team then would it really be a Mass Effect game at all?
 
You need to look up Shinobi's post history regarding Mass Effect games. (3 in particular)

The RPS article was interesting and really it comes down to what you expect from the games you purchase and play.

There are plenty of people that don't have the expectations for their games like the writer at RPS has. I imagine those people will love Andromeda.

I still recall how badly Bioware botched Mass Effect 3 and I remember how bloated and awkward Dragon Age Inquisition was at times. This article makes Andromeda sound like the love child of ME3 and DAI.

Mass Effect 3 was one of my favorite games last gen, if Bioware botches ME:A to that level then i will be happy. The only things i found wrong with the game were the ending and gaining quests through eavesdropping.
 

Ralemont

not me
You need to look up Shinobi's post history regarding Mass Effect games. (3 in particular)

The RPS article was interesting and really it comes down to what you expect from the games you purchase and play.

There are plenty of people that don't have the expectations for their games like the writer at RPS has. I imagine those people will enjoy Andromeda.

I still recall how badly Bioware botched Mass Effect 3 and I remember how bloated and awkward Dragon Age Inquisition was at times. This article makes Andromeda sound like the love child of ME3 and DAI.

Uh, didn't John Walker really like ME3?

I do too btw, so this condescension towards people based off that makes you sound bad.
 

Basketball

Member
Seems more a vocal loud minority...but yes, they do appear more and more prevalent with mass effect release date nearing

i need this mod to happen on pc
4fcdfb5e5eb19e6c47fe505867e46c268d8900caac6a28a3ef3b4d308c9a7299.jpg

amazing
FemShep looks more like her model

The Asari looks great ... take off a bit of the shine and we got a winner
mod when ?
 

Sushi Nao

Member
I watched an hour of gameplay this morning. There was a scene that basically soured the experience for me, though I kept watching.

Writing is important. I don't just mean text on items, or script itself. I mean writing as a rationalization of characters, systems and mechanics. Every game needs to do this in some way, to frame the unrealistic gameplay elements correctly against a stylized "realistic" universe.

Most importantly, it needs to take a holistic approach to this end. Everything should make sense, especially the things the characters say in the first half hour, when suspension of disbelief is tenuous.

So, when my character - my avatar for the rest of the game - hears the word "adenosine" and says "ADENO-WHA???" I learn two things about them. Either:

They're stupid. This is an astronaut from the year 2185 who is cyber-enhanced out the eyeballs, and is selected among billions of humans to go to a brand new galaxy who doesn't know basic biology.

Or:

They're unfunny. This "joke," where you're perfectly able to say the more complex part of a word, then stumble on the easy part - they did it in Bully too, "SOCIO-WHAT???" AH HURR HURR HURR - is so rote as to be actively destructive to the narrative you're trying to build about this character. Why do they say it? Clearly they can say the word. Is that their sense of humour? It sounds like it's from 1945, ffs.

Why should this be what I have to learn about my character in the first half hour? Is being competent that unrelatable? If you're a game writer and you do this, STOP. Question EVERYthing that you put in a game. Don't make these "jokes."

WAIT SHE SCANS THE ALIENS AND SAYS THEY'RE DNA BASED SO THAT WHOLE EXCHANGE MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE RRRRRRRRRGGGHHH
 

Zemm

Member
Purposefully being contrarian is click bait. Armond White has made a career out of it.

John Walker backs up every opinion he has in his article. Now you might not agree with his opinion once you play the game but clickbait this is not.
 
How is a fan of the series's opinion less valid than a person who, given his opinion on The Witcher 3, seems to hate the genre to begin with?


When someone offers a critique of a product that isn't flattering and the counter-argument is to post the impressions of someone who might be classified as an ardent fan of the product...it's worth pointing out.

Shinobi's impressions are less valid for people like me.

For other people though his impressions might be spot on. You need only look at his thread to see how pleased and excited people are.
 

Ralemont

not me
But man I really enjoyed the other 10%. I'd weigh it a bit differently like 70-30, igoring the ispid filler quests when I didn't want to do them made the game quite good. Even took quite some enjoyment out of running around exploring regions.

DAI is a great 40 hour game and a bad 100 hour one, is the best way I can put it. My favorite Dragon Age game, especially with Trespasser.
 

inky

Member
There's an entire thread dedicated to previews and hands-on impressions, but the one negative preview warrants its own thread because of confirmation bias?

Did you say the same thing when a random user decided to make a whole new thread to post his impressions, despite him being the one who actually created the "dedicated thread" you are talking about?

It's not confirmation bias, it's a general hypocrisy, from a bunch of you kids who can't handle any criticism against your favorite toys.
 
When someone offers a critique of a product that isn't flattering and the counter-argument is to post the impressions of someone who might be classified as an ardent fan of the product...it's worth pointing out.

Shinobi's impressions are less valid for people like me.

For other people though his impressions might be spot on. You need only look at his thread to see how pleased and excited people are.

Mass Effect threads are considered to be generally toxic places that sane people expressly avoid. I wouldn't base my opinion on the what people are saying here either, if you're gonna dismiss Shinobi's opinion too.
 

Nasbin

Member
Seems more a vocal loud minority...but yes, they do appear more and more prevalent with mass effect release date nearing

i need this mod to happen on pc
4fcdfb5e5eb19e6c47fe505867e46c268d8900caac6a28a3ef3b4d308c9a7299.jpg

I'm not saying that gamers are the worst, some I assume are good people, but they're real bad.
 
Mass Effect 3 was one of my favorite games last gen, if Bioware botches ME:A to that level then i will be happy. The only things i found wrong with the game were the ending and gaining quests through eavesdropping.

Your two reasons posted definitely played into why I disliked it as much as I do. Tehre are other reasons as well but all told. It just shows that what is acceptable to some just isn't for others.

I'm trying to temper my responses because at the time when people were sending cupcakes to Bioware demanding a fix or some such... (I might be remembering it incorrectly) ...and while I was indeed pissed regarding how they ended the trilogy...and it very much impacted how I viewed and still view Bioware to this day; I'm not one of the people that felt as though I or the player base deserved more.

I'm not going to go into Shinobi's thread and start shit posting a game where a good many people are excited.

But in a thread that's about a dissenting opinion regarding Andromeda; I think it's safe to say that some people certainly expect or accept different things from their Mass Effect games.
 
DAI is a great 40 hour game and a bad 100 hour one, is the best way I can put it. My favorite Dragon Age game, especially with Trespasser.
Yeah I think both my playthroughs are around that time. I think I've collected only 3 or so shards total across. Didn't even realize they unlocked a whole zone, had to look it up when I was on my 2nd char why I didn't get it.
Throughout both I didn't repeat a single region but visited each through both. Still haven't come around to playing Trespasser.

Actually thought a couple of the regions have a neat storyline, sadly it's just not told very well and has no impact or consequences on the game.
 
Mass Effect threads are considered to be generally toxic places that sane people expressly avoid. I wouldn't base my opinion on the what people are saying here either, if you're gonna dismiss Shinobi's opinion too.

I've been here for a while. I know where Shinobi stands on the Mass Effect series.

I don't dislike the guy. We're just never going to agree on Mass Effect 3.
 
I'm concerned about ME:A in lots of ways, but to honest if it didn't have boring slow planet scanning mechanics and an inventory management UI that make you wish genuine harm on it's creative team then would it really be a Mass Effect game at all?

True, the inventory of ME 1 is a complete piece of junk and upgrading your weapons is an incredible slog... but I love that game, and maybe that's because the focus is clearly on the story and atmosphere. I can deal with clunky UIs and fighting systems in exchange for that

I'm a bit sceptical of all the positive previews, I hope this won't become a fetch-quest theme-park. But John Walker's entire shtick seems to be roasting games everybody else is praising to high heavens, if he's the only one trashing the game that could be a good sign
 

inky

Member
Lol
confirmation.png

Eh, maybe not but it's a bit silly this is it's own thread.

Is it silly that Shinobi gets to make a couple dozen threads about anything Mass Effect related and no one bats an eye, yet one single thread with a different site's impressions gets piled on with this "confirmation bias" nonsense too?

It's getting more and more clear that some you are totally incapable of self awareness.
 

spekkeh

Banned
I'm sorry I like Shinobi, but he's quite clearly a marketing arm of Bioware. He has all the latest scoops and is cozy with a number of their developers, even though he does not have a real official capacity or be in the know. Reading his impressions as anything else than PR is a bad idea, in my opinion.
 

Schlorgan

Member
Is it silly that Shinobi gets to make a couple dozen threads about anything Mass Effect related and no one bats an eye, yet one single thread with a different site's impressions gets piled on with this "confirmation bias" nonsense too?

It's getting more and more clear that some you are totally incapable of self awareness.

Reading this thread, that goes both ways.
 
One dude's opinion.

This is also the same guy that called playing Witcher 3 like, quote, "eating cardboard".

I could agree with that, at least at the start. Game felt like such a slog until I got the right abilities and started getting into the story.

So maybe that'll happen with Andromeda too. A lot of the complaints are about narrative and writing so that can be pretty subjective. Though crafting and resource management sounds duuuuulllll
 
Is it silly that Shinobi gets to make a couple dozen threads about anything Mass Effect related and no one bats an eye, yet one single thread with a different site's impressions gets piled on with this "confirmation bias" nonsense too?

It's getting more and more clear that some you are totally incapable of self awareness.

Silly is certainly one word for it.
 

Zolo

Member
Seems more a vocal loud minority...but yes, they do appear more and more prevalent with mass effect release date nearing

i need this mod to happen on pc
4fcdfb5e5eb19e6c47fe505867e46c268d8900caac6a28a3ef3b4d308c9a7299.jpg

Comparison actually makes me a bit angry. I mean...making the pics and even making them mods are fine, but the idea that the the ones that are more attractive are better is bad.
 

Ralemont

not me
I'm sorry I like Shinobi, but he's quite clearly a marketing arm of Bioware. He has all the latest scoops and is cozy with a number of their developers, even though he does not have a real official capacity or be in the know. Reading his impressions as anything else than PR is a bad idea, in my opinion.

Eh I don't think he's PR as he is often as positive about non-BW games he's really looking forward to. Shinobi is someone more optimistic and easily-pleased (not necessarily a bad thing) about games and I don't think there's anything wrong with impressions from people who aren't cynical and jaded. Someone just has to decide for themselves what viewpoint they identify with.
 
Why? (What do you both disagree on?)

He thought Mass Effect 3 was great.

I think it was a rushed mess that was adversely affected by publisher expectations and poorly implemented game mechanics. In the end, a weak ending to a great series. (And I don't mean the ending of the game made the game bad. The ending of the game was just a symptom of what was wrong with that game)
 
Eh I don't think he's PR as he is often as positive about non-BW games he's really looking forward to. Shinobi is someone more optimistic and easily-pleased (not necessarily a bad thing) about games and I don't think there's anything wrong with impressions from people who aren't cynical and jaded. Someone just has to decide for themselves what viewpoint they identify with.

This.

Although I'm not convinced that he isn't unwitting PR.
 
I just don't understand why people are freaking out so much, and attacking either John or Shinobi, in like 3 hours, the game will be on Origin access, and there will be thousands of impressions. There will be impressions for everyone.

If there is one thing to give credit to Bioware is that they are not trying to hide this game.
 
Comparison actually makes me a bit angry. I mean...making the pics and even making them mods are fine, but the idea that the the ones that are more attractive are better is bad.

Im kinda in the same boat since one of my best friends actually has a face like PeeBee. It really made me angry to see people consider her face to be outright broken. Its especially frustrating when on a board like this one where you will routinely see topics wishing that females in games flaunted more looks outside of super model. We get one and her face is "broken".......
 

Coxy100

Banned
He thought Mass Effect 3 was great.

I think it was a rushed mess that was adversely affected by publisher expectations and poorly implemented game mechanics. In the end, a weak ending to a great series.
I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. It wasn't a great game - it was weak compared to the second. I enjoyed it but only because I love the series.

I agree with you in that it was such a weak ending. Great series so the ending didn't ruin it for me. But boy did it not end like I wanted it to.
 
He thought Mass Effect 3 was great.

I think it was a rushed mess that was adversely affected by publisher expectations and poorly implemented game mechanics. In the end, a weak ending to a great series.
I'm replaying it right now and while the rushed definitely applies Gameplay and RPG wise it's a standout from the series. I'd even say it's fairly competent, the set pieces in particular are much better than in the past where it was mostly just arena, corridor, arena, cutscene, arena,... superficial RPG system and cumbersome inventory. Story and writing took a major hit though.

When I originally played it I was disappointed with it, I gave up shortly before the end and switched to easy to just power through actually.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Im kinda in the same boat since one of my best friends actually has a face like PeeBee. It really made me angry to see people consider her face to be outright broken. Its especially frustrating when on a board like this one where you will routinely see topics wishing that females in games flaunted more looks outside of super model. We get one and her face is "broken".......

I don't think that was the intention though considering they went to a super model in the first place. There's a difference between intentionally making your model look like an average person and you fucking up so bad that it comes out that way anyway.
 
Did you say the same thing when a random user decided to make a whole new thread to post his impressions, despite him being the one who actually created the "dedicated thread" you are talking about?

It's not confirmation bias, it's a general hypocrisy, from a bunch of you kids who can't handle any criticism against your favorite toys.

There's a big difference between some dude on a forum posting his impressions and an OP citing an entire website's stance on the game. I already said it in the thread, I don't care about RPS's impressions - they have a right to an opinion and their criticism could very well be valid. But the way this thread was handled, making it seem like RPS's preview is the only impression released on this game - and let's face it, if you look through the posts, there are an embarrassing amount of people taking this as such - is pure garbage.

FYI, this preview was posted and discussed in that other thread yesterday, many hours before this thread was made. OP just literally hit the panic button over this one preview. Curious he didn't make one for any of the positive impressions, wouldn't you agree? Nobody made a thread saying, "hold the phone everyone, VentureBeat is loving the fuck out of Andromeda."
 
Comparison actually makes me a bit angry. I mean...making the pics and even making them mods are fine, but the idea that the the ones that are more attractive are better is bad.

This. There's something off about the character models, mostly the eyes... but especially Peebee is clearly meant to look kind of tomboyish. She's not Liara. Don't 'fix' her because she's not conventionally attarctive enough to be your waifu
 

Dlacy13g

Member
This post and the pile on reaction to it is so symptomatic of society today. Lets all rush to judgment, first one to write the negative carries the conversation. Yeah! /s
 
I just don't understand why people are freaking out so much, and attacking either John or Shinobi, in like 3 hours, the game will be on Origin access, and there will be thousands of impressions. There will be impressions for everyone.

If there is one thing to give credit to Bioware is that they are not trying to hide this game.

I don't think Bioware needs to be given credit for not trying to hide their game. (Although I'm not sure what that actually means)

They're a company like any other. They are generally going to act in a manner that benefits them best/most.
 

~Cross~

Member
Seems more a vocal loud minority...but yes, they do appear more and more prevalent with mass effect release date nearing

i need this mod to happen on pc
4fcdfb5e5eb19e6c47fe505867e46c268d8900caac6a28a3ef3b4d308c9a7299.jpg

Leave all of them looking plain so that we can avoid or at least mitigate so much of the bullshit bioware game fandoms attract.
 
John Walker backs up every opinion he has in his article. Now you might not agree with his opinion once you play the game but clickbait this is not.
The definition of clickbait is "any opinion I don't agree with". You've been on GAF long enough to know that.
 

Altairre

Member
I don't think Bioware needs to be given credit for not trying to hide their game. (Although I'm not sure what that actually means)

They're a company like any other. They are generally going to act in a manner that benefits them best/most.

I don't think they need to be given credit either but at the very least it means that they're confident in Andromeda. We shall see whether that's worth a damn in the end.
 
Top Bottom