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Mass Effect: Andromeda |OT| Ryders on the Storm

They didn't have these kinds of issues. It is more than just graphical jank and bugs. It is regressive gameplay things, writing, story, animation etc.

I don't think anyone will leave the game off their resume though. Just because it isn't GOTY Mass Effect game doesn't mean it isn't valuable years of AAA development. A ton of companies would love to hire people who worked on this, development issues and all.

ME 1 - 3 had quite a bit of issues from bugs, glitches, horrible voice acting at moments, bad written dialogue.
 
I find it real odd that there's no Digital Foundry PS Pro analysis out. Game is decent, but performance is completely inconsistent and all over the place on the Pro. This game was literally one of the first things they showed off the system with and it's on the box of the system.

Really hopeful a patch comes out soon that improves this game, just strange I haven't seen anything about it.
 

Madness

Member
Asari Pathfinder
how many of you exposed Sarissa as Pathfinder? And how many chose Vederia or kept Sarissa? Apparently if you disgrace Sarissa but keep her as Pathfinder she may or may not help on Meridian. Anyone have any idea? Wondering if I should have exposed but kept her as Pathfinder since she was so capable. Apparently you can convince her to help in Pathfinder HQ?
 

R0ckman

Member
How the hell do you use the mining node on the nomad correctly? Shot it out, and nothing is happening the node is just creating an AoE and I don't get anything but the notification that its rich in resources.
 

Shouta

Member
The crafting system is pretty unnecessary for progression as they don't provide a lot of bonuses. Only the ultra rare mods like for the Beam Emitter, or the Electric mod are worth while and even then you don't need them. It's a bit of a shame they didn't spend more time on that and making it better because it would have been a pretty great system with some polish and more options.

How the hell do you use the mining node on the nomad correctly? Shot it out, and nothing is happening the node is just creating an AoE and I don't get anything but the notification that its rich in resources.

You drive around until the bars in the mining screen spike high then hit F to mine there. The node is there to just represent a range where you can't mine again.
 
I honestly can't believe how much my opinion has turned on this game.

I came in fairly underwhelmed and was playing it basically just to have a break from For Honor, and now I spend basically all my leisure time on MEA. Underneath all the jank and the boring opening is a fucking gem
 
How the hell do you use the mining node on the nonad correctly. Shot it out, and nothing is happening the node is just creating an AoE and I don't get anything but the notification that its rich in resources.

Remember in ME 2 and 3 when you scan a planet for nodes. You do the same thing here, drive around when you see a flashing node then press right on your D-Pad and drive around until you see one of the nodes hit a wave point, Then press whatever button for whatever console version to summon a mining node.
 

Lister

Banned
Question, cause I can't remember for the life of me since its been so long but if what choices did you make it the first ME game to that you saw an impact in the first game and not just carry over from the choices you made until ME2?

In addition to the various options due to your renegade/paragon points, In Mass effect things could go bad with up to two companions leading to their deaths. Again, major plot points might develop very similarly, but sub plots can change drastically in outcome, all feeding into the main plot as well, up to including having different options for dealing with the final bad guy.

This was deifnitely a step down in narrative agency from their previosu titles, but it was sitll there. It's now gone.
 

Tovarisc

Member
In addition to the various options due to your renegade/paragon points, In Mass effect things could go bad with up to two companions leading to their deaths. Again, major plot points might develop very similarly, but sub plots can change drastically in outcome, all feeding into the main plot as well, up to including having different options for dealing with the final bad guy.

This was deifnitely a step down in narrative agency from their previosu titles, but it was sitll there. It's now gone.

I think ME3 still has crown of not having any agency. Ending makes everything up to that point irrelevant.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
I find it real odd that there's no Digital Foundry PS Pro analysis out. Game is decent, but performance is completely inconsistent and all over the place on the Pro. This game was literally one of the first things they showed off the system with and it's on the box of the system.

Really hopeful a patch comes out soon that improves this game, just strange I haven't seen anything about it.

It even has problems on the Pro? I'm on a regular PS4. And its definitely not a smooth game.
 

Lime

Member
ME 1 - 3 had quite a bit of issues from bugs, glitches, horrible voice acting at moments, bad written dialogue.

This above narrative currently being created to justify the many technical and creative flaws of Andromeda needs to die in a fire.

ME1-3 didn't have the severe amount of lack of polish, lack of features, lack of quality design that Andromeda suffers from. Stop trying to somehow lower people's standards because you need to defend this game or absolve it from its many flaws.
 
This above narrative currently being created to justify the many technical and creative flaws of Andromeda needs to die in a fire.

ME1-3 didn't have the severe amount of lack of polish, lack of features, lack of quality design that Andromeda suffers from. Stop trying to somehow lower people's standards because you need to defend this game or absolve it from its many flaws.

I'm not defending Andromeda, I'm just stating the fact that not all ME games release with "Polish" in mind.
 
This above narrative currently being created to justify the many technical and creative flaws of Andromeda needs to die in a fire.

ME1-3 didn't have the severe amount of lack of polish, lack of features, lack of quality design that Andromeda suffers from. Stop trying to somehow lower people's standards because you need to defend this game or absolve it from its many flaws.

Except literally everything other than lack of polish is an opinion or simply wrong. Andromeda has a ton of quality features going for it.

Stop trying to shut down people who like the game. Your dislike of it isn't any more valid than anybody else's fondness for it.
 
Except literally everything other than lack of polish is an opinion or simply wrong. Andromeda has a ton of quality features going for it.

Yeah I wasn't trying to use that as an excuse and sorry if it came off that way. All I was trying to say was, is that yes Andromeda has a lot of issues and those Animations are god aweful. I was just pointing out in general the OG Trilogy had it's moments of bugs and other issues. Not defending or putting down the series in general.
 

Zophar

Member
This above narrative currently being created to justify the many technical and creative flaws of Andromeda needs to die in a fire.

ME1-3 didn't have the severe amount of lack of polish, lack of features, lack of quality design that Andromeda suffers from. Stop trying to somehow lower people's standards because you need to defend this game or absolve it from its many flaws.

I don't think this is accurate at all. ME1, on 360 in particular, was released as borderline unplayable by today's standards. This series has always been a little more ambitious than Bioware's capable of, technically.
 
This above narrative currently being created to justify the many technical and creative flaws of Andromeda needs to die in a fire.

ME1-3 didn't have the severe amount of lack of polish, lack of features, lack of quality design that Andromeda suffers from. Stop trying to somehow lower people's standards because you need to defend this game or absolve it from its many flaws.
With 2 I would agree but you're inversely doing the same for ME1. The had the worst side quests both narratively and in execution.
If you don't remember them it's because almost all of them happen in an identical building, with contrived plots and giving you a pointless choice all too often.

What these arguments are actually doing is absolving Bioware for shit that the industry should have moved on from and competing studios have.
Aggrandising the original trilogy doesn't help, especially not ME1, though. MEA compares decently against 1 and 3.
 

HvySky

Member
This above narrative currently being created to justify the many technical and creative flaws of Andromeda needs to die in a fire.

ME1-3 didn't have the severe amount of lack of polish, lack of features, lack of quality design that Andromeda suffers from. Stop trying to somehow lower people's standards because you need to defend this game or absolve it from its many flaws.

Why take so much offense to people enjoying a game? You seem to be taking this really personally. I have run into very few glitches or bugs in my time playing the game, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to "lower people's standards" or something.
 

Theodoricos

Member
With 2 I would agree but you're inversely doing the same for ME1. The had the worst side quests both narratively and in execution.
If you don't remember them it's because almost all of them happen in an identical building, with contrived plots and giving you a pointless choice all too often.

ME1's side quests definitely suffered from reused assets, but the actual content of the side quests was much more rewarding (and they were much better written in general) which is why I was able to overlook the technical limitations of the game.
 
Apologies if I offended anyone here with my statement regarding the original trilogy.

With that said, what's everyones favorite Side Mission so far?

Mine is
The Little Things That Matter
 

nOoblet16

Member
You guys saying ME1-3 didn't have bug, glitches, tech issues, writing issues are cray cray.

ME1 was a game that barely even ran on 360, or has nostalgia made you forget about the mid gameplay loadings, the meme faces, Kai Leng, Terminator bossfight etc etc anymore? There's also another thing, just because your squad mates could die does not make it better, you know what having that "feature" led to? It led to squadmates barely even interacting with each other because they could die. Look at ME2 where most of the crew was optional, it meant you had a choice but it also meant barely anyone talked to each other and they hid in their little corner in the ship outside of key moments where you absolutely had to side with one person like Jack vs Miranda.

ME1 overall had the best writing till date due to Drew. But everything after that, and outside of some stuff in ME2 that was obviously Drew, had writing that'd can be a hit or a miss and it's the same here. But can we cut the hyperbole crap like cast has no personality or that the world feels "uninspired and bland"? lol
 
ME1's side quests definitely suffered from reused assets, but the actual content of the side quests was much more rewarding (and they were much better written in general) which is why I was able to overlook the technical limitations of the game.
Can't agree with this at all. There was no reward, Shepard finds out his whole platoon was murdered by Cerberus, he gives no fucks in any of the games. Some guy wanted to be addressed as some lordship throughout the whole conversation and started shooting when you called him out,...
Also the loyalty missions were go to random planet and find some shit in the same building again. If your teammate didn't ask you to do it, you completed it anyway. There even remained a marker on the map telling you to go there for eternity.

I admit you get some nice little nods out of some of them in ME2 that elevate them but in Andromeda the side quests are better structured, more interesting and technically reward you with Viability (though that system is bad).
 

Lister

Banned
You guys saying ME1-3 didn't have bug, glitches, tech issues, writing issues are cray cray.

Stop. No one is saying that. And you know that. Therewas that infamous Shep falls through the floor before taking on Benezia bug :p

But the attempts of some to say that the original trilogy was just as bad in terms of technical issues is kinda ridiculous. That's what's being called out.

Trying to say the narrative and writing was just as bad is beyond ridiculous into "cray cray" territory. It too had it's dialogue and narrative issues, but Andromeda is on another level.
 

Jaraghan

Member
Does anyone know the significance of selecting who your Shepard was at the start of the game? I'm on Voeld right now and so far I haven't seen any reference or mention of my male Shepard.
 

Theodoricos

Member
Can't agree with this at all. There was no reward, Shepard finds out his whole platoon was murdered by Cerberus, he gives no fucks in any of the games. Some guy wanted to be addressed as some lordship throughout the whole conversation and started shooting when you called him out,...

Shepard gives no fucks because in ME1 Shepard is still supposed to be the player surrogate, not a character in his own right with autodialogue at every turn like future games turned him into.

The actual sidequests were the rewards by themselves - you, as a player, were invested (or at least I was) - and they did wonders for the world-building.

EXACTLY. People are acting like there's a gulf between the two. There's just more lines.

People are not 'acting' - the review scores and the general reception of the game compared to that of the original trilogy speak for themselves.
 
Shepard gives no fucks because in ME1 Shepard is still supposed to be the player surrogate, not a character in his own right with autodialogue at every turn like future games turned him into.

The actual sidequests were the rewards by themselves - you, as a player, were invested (or at least I was) - and they did wonders for the world-building.
I thought them tedious and repetitive. Definitely not worth the reward in lore.

I do feel Andromeda's sidequests are being undersold. Tasks are garbage but there's many side quests that fill out the world and not all of them require you to scan some shit over and over.
The MMO comparisons in particular are ludicrous.

I learned that chosen fear death in a Sidequest.
People are not 'acting' - the review scores and the general reception of the game compared to that of the original trilogy speak for themselves.
Because expectations got raised considerably.
 

Vamphuntr

Member
The crafting system is pretty unnecessary for progression as they don't provide a lot of bonuses. Only the ultra rare mods like for the Beam Emitter, or the Electric mod are worth while and even then you don't need them. It's a bit of a shame they didn't spend more time on that and making it better because it would have been a pretty great system with some polish and more options.
.

I feel they were checking a checklist when making the game. Implementing a crafting system for the sake of it was one of the check. You always have most of the same recipes for the whole game and simply unlock higher level gear by leveling up. You can't make more ultra rare mods than one either so you have to hope it drops from an enemy. I think it was a way to use the resources you mine and scan otherwise these are also fairly pointless. They went for the quantity approach on many things actually.
 
Shepard gives no fucks because in ME1 Shepard is still supposed to be the player surrogate, not a character in his own right with autodialogue at every turn like future games turned him into.

The actual sidequests were the rewards by themselves - you, as a player, were invested (or at least I was) - and they did wonders for the world-building.



People are not 'acting' - the review scores and the general reception of the game compared to that of the original trilogy speak for themselves.

I would rate the game a 7.5 or an 8 which is around the Metacritic score. That has nothing to do with dialogue or writing. There are a ton of bugs and graphical issues (animations). The dialogue, characters, and story can still be the exact same quality as the OT while still being a 7.5.
 

Lister

Banned
I just replayed all the games and am 40 hours into Andromeda and have not noticed a notable difference.

I don't know if you guys are just saying fuck it, I'm all on on defending this title, no matter what, or what it is, but seriously?

I admit that it's been a while since i've played ME1, but were there hearts breaking and exploding at the same time there? Lots of tired faces? People being poetic, and apologizing for being poetic, except not being poetic at all?

Lots of coy "I just wanted to.. tell you... that I wanted to .. you know... maybe get some drinks later on or ... somethign. hehehe"? how many characters introduce themselves as sparky, no nonse adventurers, looking for the next thrill!

Shep wlaking up to a Geth and saying "Hey, like it was totally easy to get here, lol!"
 
Shepard gives no fucks because in ME1 Shepard is still supposed to be the player surrogate, not a character in his own right with autodialogue at every turn like future games turned him into.

The actual sidequests were the rewards by themselves - you, as a player, were invested (or at least I was) - and they did wonders for the world-building.

I agree. I actually loved the side missions in ME1 for their neat little self contained narratives. They really reminded me of Star Trek episodes. Get a call from Hackett, go down and investigate. There's usually a choice to make to resolve some dilemma. Just nice little stories that fleshed out the setting.
 

Ushay

Member
I honestly can't believe how much my opinion has turned on this game.

I came in fairly underwhelmed and was playing it basically just to have a break from For Honor, and now I spend basically all my leisure time on MEA. Underneath all the jank and the boring opening is a fucking gem

An unpolished gem. Hence why I'm waiting to play the campaign until later this year. I'm having a lot of fun with the multiplayer as expected, with occasional issues with lag. But that is to be expected with P2P connections.
 
I don't know if you guys are just saying fuck it, I'm all on on defending this title, no matter what, or what it is, but seriously?

I admit that it's been a while since i've played ME1, but were there hearts breaking and exploding at the same time there? Lots of tired faces? People being poetic, and apologizing for being poetic, except not being poetic at all?

Lots of coy "I just wanted to.. tell you... that I wanted to .. you know... maybe get some drinks later on or ... somethign. hehehe"? how many characters introduce themselves as sparky, no nonse adventurers, looking for the next thrill!

Shep wlaking up to a Geth and saying "Hey, like it was totally easy to get here, lol!"

Just a numbers game. In ME1 there's 5 bad lines and 100 good ones. In Andromeda there's 500 bad lines and 10,000 good ones.

And yes ME1 absolutely has lines like that.
 

Mifune

Mehmber
Havarl > Voeld > Eos

hope that trend continues

Yep. Havarl was my favorite as well. Although I'm not sure why they didn't make Aya (or at least the content of Aya) part of Havarl or vice versa. Havarl plus a big city like Aya would have made the perfect planet.
 

Lister

Banned
Just a numbers game. In ME1 there's 5 bad lines and 100 good ones. In Andromeda there's 500 bad lines and 10,000 good ones.

And yes ME1 absolutely has lines like that.

Examples please?

And if that's the case they shoudl have cut those 500 lines. Or improved at least the ones in the main storyline for christ sakes.
 

Jocund

Member
I don't know if you guys are just saying fuck it, I'm all on on defending this title, no matter what, or what it is, but seriously?

I admit that it's been a while since i've played ME1, but were there hearts breaking and exploding at the same time there? Lots of tired faces? People being poetic, and apologizing for being poetic, except not being poetic at all?

Lots of coy "I just wanted to.. tell you... that I wanted to .. you know... maybe get some drinks later on or ... somethign. hehehe"? how many characters introduce themselves as sparky, no nonse adventurers, looking for the next thrill!

Shep wlaking up to a Geth and saying "Hey, like it was totally easy to get here, lol!"

No, because the tone and the texture of the writing in the Trilogy was markedly different. Andromeda is inconsistent in a lot of spots, but it's also different. And not necessarily worse for it. The bolded isn't even bad. It's an awkward exchange. Ryder is twenty. I think Fryda Wolff nails that delivery, and if the animation behind it were stronger, I think the whole scene would be a success.

And yes, the last three games have basic-ass lines like "I'm this kind of person and I like to do this kinda thing!"
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Man this cave looks good! If only it was that nice everywhere(I'm looking at you Nexus).

HONN8wD.jpg
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
Except literally everything other than lack of polish is an opinion or simply wrong. Andromeda has a ton of quality features going for it.

Stop trying to shut down people who like the game. Your dislike of it isn't any more valid than anybody else's fondness for it.
Stop saying literally everything. It isn't literally everything "but polish" that this game suffers from. Story writing and level design isn't polish in nature (there is a need for it when done). There are plenty of things wrong with this game, and many that are not. It isn't "literally" flawless bar one thing.
 
I don't know if you guys are just saying fuck it, I'm all on on defending this title, no matter what, or what it is, but seriously?

I admit that it's been a while since i've played ME1, but were there hearts breaking and exploding at the same time there? Lots of tired faces? People being poetic, and apologizing for being poetic, except not being poetic at all?

Lots of coy "I just wanted to.. tell you... that I wanted to .. you know... maybe get some drinks later on or ... somethign. hehehe"? how many characters introduce themselves as sparky, no nonse adventurers, looking for the next thrill!

Shep wlaking up to a Geth and saying "Hey, like it was totally easy to get here, lol!"
I'm not all in defending this title, I'd never excuse the buggy mess it is.

Yes ME1 had just as corny lines as Andromeda especially if you include the sidequests. ME2 had Thane the edgelord for instance who is pretty loved but basically talked about mortality 24/7, yes Thane I know you're dying.
ME3 basically didn't have sidequests but you gotta admire the narrative of Shepard doing odd jobs for randoms while the galaxy is about to be wiped out. Sure I'm going to check out if your son is truly dead. Hey just let me insert myself into your personal conversation and tell you what to do.
Man this cave looks good! If only it was that nice everywhere(I'm looking at you Nexus).
Then you'll be happy to hear that they use this same cave over and over ;)
 

Lister

Banned
It's an awkward exchange.

You don't say!

Ryder is twenty. I think Fryda Wolff nails that delivery, and if the animation behind it were stronger, I think the whole scene would be a success.

WHAT? What 22 (she's 22) year old with any sort of self respect talks like that? What sort of trained professional, pathfinder in training - one of the most demanding and imprtant roles int he whole operation, talks like that? To a member of the crew, no less. Can you picture a trianed astronaut talking like that?

If I saw a co-worker talking like that and it wasn't obvious that he was joking, I'd call 911, thinking he might be having a stroke.
 

Alucrid

Banned
You don't say!



WHAT? What 22 (she's 22) year old with any sort of self respect talks like that? What sort of trained professional, pathfinder in training - one of the most demanding and imprtant roles int he whole operation, talks like that? To a member of crew, no less.

If I saw a co-worker talking like that and it wasn't obvious that he was joking, I'd call 911, thinking he might be having a stroke.

but you aren't a trained professional pathfinder. not really in training either.
 

Lister

Banned
but you aren't a trained professional pathfinder. not really in training either.

Yes you are. You are part of the pathfinder team. Your father didn't you put in the team out of some weird nepotism. You're supposed to be a professional. She's also supposed to be a scientist, and yet she can't pronounce some basic scientific terms. I don't even know what the writer was going for there. Implying she was stupid?
 
With Kallo saying "Kill me now" is something we all would of said to something stupid to the way Ryder delivered that line. It makes that line just bitter sweet at least for me it did cause that was the laugh out loud moment after the WTF was that moment.
 

Tovarisc

Member
You don't say!

WHAT? What 22 (she's 22) year old with any sort of self respect talks like that? What sort of trained professional, pathfinder in training - one of the most demanding and imprtant roles int he whole operation, talks like that? To a member of the crew, no less. Can you picture a trianed astronaut talking like that?

If I saw a co-worker talking like that and it wasn't obvious that he was joking, I'd call 911, thinking he might be having a stroke.

You would call 911 on your co-worker because she is socially awkward when it comes to asking someone out? Holy shit...

Yes you are. You are part of the pathfinder team. Your father didn't you put in the team out of some weird nepotism. You're supposed to be a professional.

Yeaaah... no. You didn't get role because you are N7 Pro like he is.
 
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