Support NeoGAF

[texhnolyze]

Well if people are comparing this to DA:I I guess it doesn't make me too worried. The only things I didn't like about that game were the villain and the countless fetch quests.

This isn't about the positive vs negative review ratio, it's about the parallels between the two games. If you liked DAI then you probably have nothing to worry about.

Well, people should've already set their minds on ME Andromeda after Bioware's reveal that it's gonna use DA Inquisition as the template. If you don't enjoy Inquisition, you shouldn't have lurking around Andromeda information. As bati said, if you liked DAI then you probably have nothing to worry about. If you don't, then there's nothing to see here.

It's that simple.

 

[d1rtn4p]

I hope this isn't anything close to DA:I. If so, I'll stay far away.

 

[Ryzaki009]

My main issue with DAI was the MMO missions. Otherwise I'm fine with Mass Effect: Inquisition.

 

[texhnolyze]

25 positive impressions? Nope.

2 negative impressions? Yup.

Seriously. Almost as if people wait to pounce on something that fits their preconceived narrative.

"But RPS is one of the outlets that I trust the most!"

RPS - February
After 5 hours, Mass Effect Andromeda is looking good.

RPS - March
The first few hours of Mass Effect: Andromeda are… well they aren’t good.

"See? They hate it!"

 

[SirPinkyNose]

Why people cares about that first hour rev8ew? There are so many first hour of gameplay for MEA out there you can just watch all of them and see it for yourself.

 

[Laiza]

"But RPS is one of the outlets that I trust the most!"

RPS - February
After 5 hours, Mass Effect Andromeda is looking good.

RPS - March
The first few hours of Mass Effect: Andromeda are… well they aren’t good.

"See? They hate it!"

Cool to see them covering the game with two different writers.

Honestly, my tastes don't generally jive with John Walker's anyway, so it's not like I can be too disappointed here. (I'm only really in it for the multiplayer in the first place.)

 

[Astral]

I will say though, those starting party members are pretty lame so far. Like, Vega tier.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

I will say though that things like NPCs and towns feel very last-gen, or at least reveal that this game was made in a pre-Witcher 3 world.

It's worth remembering that DA:I was cross-gen so it was, indeed, technically "last-gen".

 

[Mr. Phellps]

Kotaku also posted a preview of sorts, I thought it was a tad spoilerific, though: http://kotaku.com/five-hours-in-mass-effect-andromeda-is-overwhelming-1793268493

 

[Strakt]

This isn't about the positive vs negative review ratio, it's about the parallels between the two games. If you liked DAI then you probably have nothing to worry about.

Based off what? DAI has nothing to do with this game and is nothing like it. Its simple.. if you like mass effect, you'll like this game.

 

[texhnolyze]

Based off what? DAI has nothing to do with this game and is nothing like it. Its simple.. if you like mass effect, you'll like this game.

Not really. The gameplay loop has changed from linear and mission-based one into open world like in DA Inquisition. Of course, this time it's in Mass Effect settings.

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Not really. The gameplay loop has changed from linear and mission-based one into open world like in DA Inquisition. Of course, this time it's in Mass Effect settings.

How different is the quest structure compared to the first Mass Effect?

 

[texhnolyze]

How different is the quest structure compared to the first Mass Effect?

I don't know, I haven't played Andromeda yet. And I don't wanna read too much of these previews to avoid spoilers.

 

[RedSwirl]

I just hope they don't turn the Mako exploration into another Hinterlands situation. The mining in the most recent Nomad video doesn't look promising if you ask me.

 

[Royal_Phalanx]

Ladyinsanity just said in her stream that 'shit gets real' later on and that 'everything will make sense' in terms of sidequests. Hope this is not BS. Don't want to rage about this game after 20 hours

 

[RedSwirl]

Ladyinsanity just said in her stream that 'shit gets real' later on and that 'everything will make sense' in terms of sidequests. Hope this is not BS. Don't want to rage about this game after 20 hours

Knowing this, BioWare, and Mass Effect 3, it's probably something to do with leveling up the Nexus and waking people up. It's probably gonna be like the galactic readiness from ME3 where something happens depending on that stat, so you'll want to do as many of those quests as possible to keep it leveled up.

 

[Jamaro85]

Well, I guess you've restored a little bit of hope for me. This doesn't takeaway my worries of DA:I's grindiness that made me stop playing after 30 hours, but you saying that it feels like Mass Effect gives me hope that even if it has some of the crap I hated about DA:I that it'll be more tolerable here.

Altogether so far [DA:I] feels like a good main quest surrounded by a package that feels... MMO ish? I can't really find the words and I actually don't play MMOs so I don't know what those criticisms mean, but everything in Inquisition outside the main quest feels like what I imagine MMOs are. I guess the closest things I've played are Phantasy Star Online and The Division which are very clear "get loot and fill bars" games, and Inquisition kind of feels like that outside the main quest I guess.

Yeah, I have a tendency to feel a compulsion to complete every aspect of these open world games, and with DA:I it really killed my fun. Many, many people loved the game and seemed to be able to get beyond those things, so I would definitely try to focus more on the main line stuff, and less on drawing constellations, collecting shards and finding mosaics and vintage wines. And don't waste too much time on the war table if it starts to feel tedious. I actually regret not having finished the game for story's sake as DA:O is probably one of my favorite games ever, and I really enjoyed DA2 despite it's many issues.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

"But RPS is one of the outlets that I trust the most!"

RPS - February
After 5 hours, Mass Effect Andromeda is looking good.

RPS - March
The first few hours of Mass Effect: Andromeda are... well they aren't good.

"See? They hate it!"

Those are the most polar opposite opinions I've ever seen on one game on the same site....crazy!

I don't roll with John's game choices either: he did say playing TW3 felt like "eating cardboard" so his taste in RPGs vary wildly from my own.

Kotaku's initial review is really positive: most are extremely positive by the looks: it's funny when there are 2-3 negative ones about that people latch onto and claim to be the glorious coming of the doom of a game, when I go by a majority rules feel until I get my own hands on the said game.

 

[CuNi]

Don't won't to be nit-picking but those wonky animations look like a huge deal breaker for me. Bad animations can ruin the immersion of a game in a instant.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Those are the most polar opposite opinions I've ever seen on one game on the same site....crazy!

I don't roll with John's game choices either: he did say playing TW3 felt like "eating cardboard" so his taste in RPGs vary wildly from my own.

Kotaku's initial review is really positive: most are extremely positive by the looks: it's funny when there are 2-3 negative ones about that people latch onto and claim to be the glorious coming of the doom of a game, when I go by a majority rules feel until I get my own hands on the said game.

I can't remember if it was said in this thread or another similar one, but the people looking for both previews and reviews generally aren't looking to be informed about a game. They're looking for validation of their pre-conceived feelings about it.

Hell, the desperate search for validation motivates a lot of our actions. It's why gamers insist that games are art with all the perceived merit that comes with that while simultaneously obsessing over how those same games are judged on a 1-10 scale

 

[Brewster's Wallet]

I've got enough Zelda to get through as it is, so will wait till reviews are out (and mainly what Vinny of Giantbomb thinks) before I plonk down some money for this.

 

[Zyae]

Kotaku's initial review is really positive: most are extremely positive by the looks: it's funny when there are 2-3 negative ones about that people latch onto and claim to be the glorious coming of the doom of a game, when I go by a majority rules feel until I get my own hands on the said game.

Because people have an agenda and are just seeking confirmation bias. Obviously criticisms are valid commentary but its kind of sad the positive impressions are ignored completely by some.

 

[Kneecap]

Hell, the desperate search for validation motivates a lot of our actions. It's why gamers insist that games are art with all the perceived merit that comes with that while simultaneously obsessing over how those same games are judged on a 1-10 scale

Heh, maybe all of, e.g., Dali's work is ART, but I can still apply a 1-10 scale to it.

 

[thenexus6]

Hmm I am not sure about this game, I really liked 1-3 and any ME game would've been a day one purchase no question but something about Andromeda has always seemed off to me.

Figure i'll get it in a month or two maybe? I still have Horizon then Persona 5 soon (which is knocking it out the park with reviews and impressions)

 

[shinobi602]

My main issue with DAI was the MMO missions. Otherwise I'm fine with Mass Effect: Inquisition.

Like I said in the other thread, I like to be fully transparent when I describe things so people don't come back and say I misled them. I haven't done many sidequests personally. I stated that from several reviewers I've spoken to that are deep in the game, more than myself, sidequests come into their own later and some have multiple quest lines that can span multiple areas/planets.

I also described a few side activities on the very first prologue planet that *felt* more fleshed out to me as opposed to DAI's fetch quests because they actually had narration by the characters and you learn/investigate some interesting things that provide neat info vs "Collect 10 ram hides for the soldier" in DAI for example.

Some more examples: I've also been going through a Turian murder mystery on the Nexus that spanned multiple conversations with the Nexus director, then a witness, the suspect's wife, etc and that's now asking me to go to Eos to find and investigate the remains.

Also been following up leads on someone sabotaging electrical grids on the Nexus and now I have to find out what's going on and why.

These things feel more compelling to me than a lot of the junk in DAI lol.

There's still the "tasks" that are simpler in nature. One injured soldier asked if I could place a pendant next to where he lost his brother on a planet, but even that felt more fleshed out than DAI 'sidequests' because he talked a bit about how close he was to his brother. I'm enjoying them personally.

So I can only speak for myself. Hope that helps

 

[Revas]

That helps, thanks shinobi.