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Mass Effect: Andromeda | Review Thread

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jabuseika

Member
Well, not quite there yet.
hFibh03.jpg


But only 22 reviews counted for Andromeda so far, let's see where it goes from here.

Are we really counting this?

And it's also very close...
 

jacobeid

Banned
Amazon with prime gives you a discount up to two weeks after release.

I still don't think it's worth it. Especially with pricing over time collapsing lately.

$36 for a game on day one with the ability to return or not pick up the item is worth the risk usually. It's $12 cheaper than on Amazon Prime.
 
I don't get "Preorder culture" personally. This isn't 1998 where EB Games would get 15 copies of a game from poor retail channels. There's.literally no reason to preorder a game unless it's a slam dunk sure thing you want. We don't buy release night tickets months in advance for any movie we have a inkling to see, and there's some actual scarcity there since theaters are finite physical locations. Why do for games?

As for reviews, 75 is just "not for everyone". Find someone who's reviews on science fiction and RPGs you trust, and defer to them.

An example, my view don't align much with Jim Sterling on anything but survival horror. So when he has an opinion on something in that genre I listen. When he has an opinion on a different genre, I tend to hold the opinion lower because I know we can wildly differ in opinion.

They haven't done it yet this year, but Best Buy for the past 2-3 years offered $10 in rewards for preordering most big titles. With GCU essentially made the price of new games $37.99 if you preordered.
 

Metroidvania

People called Romanes they go the house?
Like, take this from the Gamespot review:

Worse still, your agency in these conversations is limited. Sure, you can periodically select from up to four dialogue options, but these frequently boil down to "be optimistic" or "be realistic." On paper, this system improves over the rigid renegade/paragon dichotomy of the original series, but in practice, the various options felt only superficially different. And regardless of what I picked, my inputs only rarely impacted the outcome. Even when I tried to be rude, characters generally found a way to shrug it off.

That's just....the worst.

Why would you just cut the paragon/renegade and then not come up with something great to replace it.

edit:

Oh, goodie. Also from the GS review:

I would call it more of a missed opportunity than a problem, but crafting is often the only way to get the weapons and armor you actually want, which means hours of scanning objects to accrue research points and many headaches dealing with the messy UI. Even bare essentials like comparing weapon stats can be tricky or even impossible.

I was afraid of this....
 
So EA released another mediocre game. I'm shocked. I wouldn't blame Bioware though they probably needed more time to work on the game and they know it. I would blame EA for rushing it out before the end of their fiscal year.
 
What are you implying here?

What kind of bullshit is this?

You think he was payed to give us his impressions?

Because if not you should just shut up.

Shinobi is a ME fan. he gave us his impressions after 3 hours.

End of fucking story.

Jesus dude calm down.

Shinobi literally praised the writing and said conversations "flow naturally" throughout the intro, which is simply not true. There were quite a few other things he said which don't really gel with what we got in the origin trial as well.

If I was someone who preordered based off of his impressions (I'm not because that's not an intelligent thing to do at all, but still), I'd be pretty salty.
 

Bedlam

Member
Digital preorder lets you preload and play right when it unlocks.
For physical pre orders there are some online stores like Simplygames in UK who ship the game early and 99% of the time you'll end up getting the game before release. Sometimes even upto a week before release.. I got Halo 5, MGSV, Mankind Divided from them a week before launch.
Artificial incentives in order to suck gullible, hype-influenced gamers into uninformed purchasing decisions. That kind of stuff wouldn't happen if it wasn't for gamers succumbing to hype and pre-order culture as easily as they do.

That kind of behavior is a net negative for our hobby though because it doesn't reward quality work but marketing first and foremost. But unfortunately gamers are still very young on average and easily influenced.
 
At this point I'm happy Mass Effect 3's ending put a bullet in my fandom. I would have been so excited and disappointed with this game, and then I would have been excited and disappointed when they release another stinker in 2-3 years, over and over fooling myself.

Now it's like watching an abusive ex gain more and more weight until they eat themselves to death.
 

TankRizzo

Banned
He's an influencer on the biggest enthusiast gamers board and on his personal and very successful twitter. Integral to the promotion and hype creation on the game here for a long time. I know it, you know it, Bioware knows it.

I'm sure he's not a paid shill, but how close you have to be with a developer to draw a line between "a fan" and "a marketing tool"? Draw a line, everybody sticks to it, I'm fine with whatever.

Let's make the most of this trainwreck.
Check out his twitter, he's full on. He's walking that real fine line at this point.
 

jdstorm

Banned
Checked out some of the romance bedroom stuff on Youtube.

... I think I see where a lot of their focus went.

You'd think with such a focus on that area they would have at least made the character models look good. Cora looks like an averagely talented fan tried to make Jennifer Lawrence in the character creator.
 

Mifec

Member
It is hard to express my disappointment with using DA:I as a template properly lol. I have a boxed copy of Balder's Gate I purchased on launch, with its old school giant manual describing the stupid THACO system lol. I have been a Bioware super-fan since then. I even was OK with DA2. But DA:I was the first Bioware game that I could not finish. It was incomprehensible to me that people liked that game. I could not find a single redeeming quality about it.

Playing The Witcher 3 after DA:I and then replaying DA:I this January just reinforced my opinion on how much of a terrible game it really was. Also hell yeah I still got a boxed copy of BG, next to my Arcanum copy and a few others.
 

marrec

Banned
The controversial opinions are flying fast in this thread o_O

I think the huge variety of opinions about which ME game and which DA game was the best, all for different reasons, is a good reason to still check out Andromeda though. I'm the weird creature that thinks ME2 was the worst entry in the series for being the least RPG-like entry, with the blandest over-arching story, but a solid action game with a great cast. And judging by all the reports about the gameplay being great in Andromeda but the story and writing being lacklustre... well that's the same summary Mass 2 has, and most gamers loved it more than the other two entries.

The only reason I powered through DA:I was to read journal entries in dilapidated houses :lol

I ain't liked ME since the first one, so I'm just here for the show.
 
Like, take this from the Gamespot review:



That's just....the worst.

Why would you just cut the paragon/renegade and then not come up with something great to replace it.

edit:

Oh, goodie. Also from the GS review:



I was afraid of this....
The all-options-are-good thing shouldn't really surprise anyone anymore, it sucks but so many games do it now because the overwhelming majority of people pick the good options so it's not worth the extra work.
 

ironcreed

Banned
So EA released another mediocre game. I'm shocked. I wouldn't blame Bioware though they probably needed more time to work on the game and they know it. I would blame EA for rushing it out before the end of their fiscal year.

Well, EA gave them five years. How is that their fault?
 

Drek

Member
yeah, i've been thinking about 2 games i loved this gen: mafia 3 (68) & mad max (69) :) ...

There needs to be a bit more appreciation for what a Metacritic score actually tells us.

It isn't just a number. Metacritic color codes them for a reason. "Green", i.e. 75 and above, means that the game is generally perceived as "good".

Good doesn't mean great and good doesn't mean bad. It means "good". A good game can be a disappointment, or it can be a meaningful accomplishment.

The industry's review scale at large and Metacritic as a microcosm of that industry isn't especially inaccurate when you understand those conditions. Someone's favorite game could be a mid-50's metacritic everyone generally pans but that doesn't make their opinion wrong or invalid, it just means that the appeal of the game is very narrow or that it carries enough deficiencies to make it unattractive to the majority.

My reading of these reviews actually paints ME:A as a bit of both. It doesn't do anything to appeal to a wider audience than the existing ME fan base, but then it doesn't succeed in offering a well polished experience for that fan base to enjoy. It isn't a bad game, it just isn't going to win the franchise many new fans while pushing away some of the old ones unable or unwilling to deal with the flaws given the saturated market for great games we're currently immersed in.

Lastly, this might be surprising as a Bioware game if you were plucked straight out of 2010 but this is the same developer who made Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, not to mention Dragon Age II. They haven't had a consistently upward trajectory in nearly a decade while the rest of the industry has moved on. Blame it on brain drain, blame it on EA, blame it on whatever you want but the reality is that Bioware isn't the same outfit who produced Baldur's Gate II and KOTOR. It isn't even the same as it was when it made Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins. They can rally back but if they want to be a premier developer again they'll need to because they absolutely aren't one right now.
 

Jumeira

Banned
It is hard to express my disappointment with using DA:I as a template properly lol. I have a boxed copy of Balder's Gate I purchased on launch, with its old school giant manual describing the stupid THACO system lol. I have been a Bioware super-fan since then. I even was OK with DA2. But DA:I was the first Bioware game that I could not finish. It was incomprehensible to me that people liked that game. I could not find a single redeeming quality about it.

Im with you. Awful game and a worrying sign of BioWare losing it for me. Reason why i couldnt take Shinobi (or anyone the liked DA:I) seriously with his ME impressions.
 

Chamber

love on your sleeve
After the biggest impact that the original trilogy was for the industry. Can we say that Andromeda can join the list of failed titles of a franchise?

Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex
Sonic 2006
Gears of War Judgement
Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
God of War Ascension
Metal Gear Solid 4

I'm so sad for the fans that waited for a Resident Evil 4.

Screw you guys, man. God of War Ascension was dope.
 
He's an influencer on the biggest enthusiast gamers board and on his personal and very successful twitter. Integral to the promotion and hype creation on the game here for a long time. I know it, you know it, Bioware knows it.

I'm sure he's not a paid shill, but how close you have to be with a developer to draw a line between "a fan" and "a marketing tool"? Draw a line, everybody sticks to it, I'm fine with whatever.

Let's make the most of this trainwreck.
Shinobi has always been a hype man, don't know why people are angry. Doesn't mean he's a shill or disingenuous, he is just very passionate about games and shares that.
 

GlamFM

Banned
Smh, not like you contributed anything better than the dude with this post. If an opinion hurts you that much (lol @ "edgy," this forum will never know how to use that word), just ignore it fam.

"Edgy"

“Edgy” is an English slang term used to describe things, behaviors or trends which are provocative or avant-garde,[15] and is often used to describe things that are dark and gothic in nature. It is commonly used as an insult on 4chan and Tumblr for someone attempting to be badass by acting emo or overly contrarian.

(lol)
 
lol yeah.

One could say it gives Andromeda's facial expressions a run for their money!! /s


Hahaha true true ;)

Been reading/watching some more positive reviews and they actually seen to like the planets and find enough reason for exploration. It's tempting to just pay those 44 euros and check it out for myself. Especially because I liked quite a bit in that trial.
 
Outlets that gave this game a 9/10 should explain how they do not focus bugs in their reviews. Disgusting.
Breath of the Wild's frame rate dips to 20 on regular occasions on the Switch. Everything is subjective.
Well, EA gave them five years. How is that their fault?
We know next to nothing about the development ATM, as something has clearly gone wrong somewhere.

I hope we'll find out via leaks/journalism.
 
After the biggest impact that the original trilogy was for the industry. Can we say that Andromeda can join the list of failed titles of a franchise?

Crash Bandicoot The Wrath of Cortex
Sonic 2006
Gears of War Judgement
Banjo & Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
God of War Ascension
Metal Gear Solid 4

I'm so sad for the fans that waited for a Resident Evil 4.

LOL what is MGS4 doing there?

A highly rated successful game and neogafs 2008 GOTY both for the year and in the updated GOTY ranking.

Swap it out with Resident Evil 6
 

mocoworm

Member
What are you implying here?

What kind of bullshit is this?

You think he was payed to give us his impressions?

Because if not you should just shut up.

Shinobi is a ME fan. he gave us his impressions after 3 hours.

End of fucking story.

Agreed.

Shinobi is a good guy and this attempted take-down of him is a dick move by people who clearly haven't read enough of his stuff. He is a massive ME fan and only posted about his first few hours.
 

Kagutaba

Member
It think it's from the fact that they are basically replacements for all of those characters you mentioned. We played them for over three games and now it's seemingly more of the same. It looks like they barely even tried to do anything different. Even if Liam is better than Kaiden he is Kaiden. Why trAvel 2 million light years to just give us the same squad?

If you feel so that's a valid reason even if I don't quite agree, but he didn't frame it like that, it was mostly just assumptions and pure dislike with very little substance.
 

cordy

Banned
My issue is this:

I'm playing through FFXV right now and I'm on Chapter 8.
I bought Yakuza 0 with the Target Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal and I haven't started it yet.
I bought Nier: Automata with the Target Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal and I haven't started it yet.
I got Horizon: Zero Dawn with the Target Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal and I haven't started it yet.
I'm getting a Switch and Zelda: Breath of the Wild in the next few months.
Tekken 7 is ordered and it releases June 2.
Crash Bandicoot Trilogy is ordered and it releases late June.

I've got so many amazing games in my lineup already that I don't have time to play a game like this. It'll be a game I play down the line when it becomes cheaper but right now? Shit, I'm probably set for at least later on this year.
 

Holundrian

Unconfirmed Member
If I was someone who preordered based off of his impressions (I'm not because that's not an intelligent thing to do at all, but still), I'd be pretty salty.
If you preordered based on an impression of the first 3h of a game you have only yourself and your own stupidity to blame. People need to take responsibility instead our outsourcing the part of their brain that can think critically.
 

jacobeid

Banned
Where are you getting new releases for 36?

Best Buy ran some $25 off an $100 purchase with Visa checkout which effectively made all games $36 on day one. Several people pre-ordered then to lock in 2017 games at that price. Despite people saying "don't preorder" you could have literally saved $24 on day one if you had. You aren't obligated to keep it either so it's not like you're screwed if the game is bad. Just return it or choose not to pick it up if you chose in-store pickup and you'll get refunded.
 

Ponchito

Member
This doesn't surprise me at all. Masterminds behind Bioware top games left the company. It shows.

While Dragon Age Inquisition was OK, it already showed weak writing and forgettable characters.

Bioware games haven't ever been the most polished pieces of software. If the story and game design was good people could overlook the animation issues.
 
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