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Mass Effect: Andromeda - Cinematic trailer
- Thread starter Tovarisc
- Start date
Stilton Disco
Member
I needed a hell of a lot of winning over after Mass Effect 3, and these incredibly generic promos have not done it.
This entire thing feels like it was decided by comity, focus tested to hell and back, then given a once over with a check list of broad appeal must haves.
It's just so dull, lifeless and by the numbers feeling.
ME1 felt like 60/70's Sci Fi, all bright, shiny optimism and big ideas. ME2, 80's Sci Fi, gritty, lived in, and all about the individuals that inhabited an otherwise uncaring universe. ME3, 90/2000's edgy spectacle, special effect set pieces, and stupid twists.
This is is just, well everything and nothing. A low budget made for TV feature, not even so bad it's good.
This entire thing feels like it was decided by comity, focus tested to hell and back, then given a once over with a check list of broad appeal must haves.
It's just so dull, lifeless and by the numbers feeling.
ME1 felt like 60/70's Sci Fi, all bright, shiny optimism and big ideas. ME2, 80's Sci Fi, gritty, lived in, and all about the individuals that inhabited an otherwise uncaring universe. ME3, 90/2000's edgy spectacle, special effect set pieces, and stupid twists.
This is is just, well everything and nothing. A low budget made for TV feature, not even so bad it's good.
Captain Tuttle
Member
With Kevin Spacey's wife from House of Cards
Day one for me, already prebought and awaiting download
Fleshfeast
Member
Humans look terrible. I think I hate them. I'm going to need an all alien squad to succeed with this mission.
This is the kinda human I want on my team
Not whatever the shit those people are.
Zaeed was in my squad pretty much the whole game, what a badass.
I used the default character in ME1-3 because anything I made looked terrible, but I think I might have to customize this time. I want to play a male but I'm not feeling this guy.
JamesHolden
Banned
I'm confused by people complaining about one liners in a short trailer. That's what a trailer is. I am extremely excited for more Mass Effect. New galactic setting and the renewed focus on exploration seem apparent in these trailers. I wish the crew was less experienced and wasn't filled with experts. Where is my Jak or Morinth team member who has gifts/skills that force me to tolerate questionable backgrounds.
Heckler456
Banned
Unless you can quote me something different, Witcher 3 had about 450.000 words.
Dragon Age: Origins had about 740.000 words. Somehow I doubt that their games have gotten smaller since then, in regards to script size. ME2 and ME3 were also in the region of 450.000.
It just doesn't make me feel confident that they have got any better writing from ME2/3, which was mostly "fuck yeah humans" with cheesy one-liners way too often in the game.
Maintenance
Member
I don't, actually. DA:O is still superior to every single sequel, and itself couldn't even beat Baldur's Gate that came a decade before it.
That is starting point more or less. Also because of distance between Milky Way and Andromeda hundreds of years has passed between ME3's ending and MEA's beginning.
Arks left Milky Way somewhere around between events of ME1 and 2.
DeadlyParasite
Member
If you're at all interested how this is all fitting together, I recommend watching all 4 of the Andromeda Initiative video briefings that have released on their website so far.
https://www.masseffect.com/andromeda-initiative/training-hub
Lots of good information.
JimmyRustler
Gold Member
Man, the Ryder siblings look as generic as they come. Really hope I can create my own Ryder this time as well. Standard Shepard looked badass though.
It most definitely did not. TW3 had some 30k+ lines of dialogue. ME3 alone had over 40k and DAI is a far larger game. DAO had over 68k lines of dialogue.
As for Andromeda, they've stated the companion with the least dialogue has more lines than the companion with the most dialogue from ME3. They have a shit ton of voice acting in their games.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Looks bad.
I'm there day 1.
I'm there day 1.
texhnolyze
Banned
Tbh, not really that great trailer. Kinda regret I spoiled myself for this.
Indeed.
Where can I get a wallpaper version of this?
so perfect
Indeed.
Where can I get a wallpaper version of this?
Rellik
Member
Of course you can. It's a BioWare game.
Durrzerker
Banned
Guess I gotta eat crow. Man, TW3 feels like it has way more talking, though.
Oh well.
Likewise.
JamesHolden
Banned
I understand your concern, but I don't think a trailer is evidence for or against the writing quality. A well written story is impossible to convey in 2 miniutes, especially without spoilers.
Their marketing department is quite sub par though.
The tone of the trailer is consistent with how the tone of the trailers in ME2/3 were, though.
Meh. DA: O is inflated by the different origins.
I am curious whether ME2/3 have larger scripts due to male/female Shepard.
I'm surprised by the low count on the Witcher 3, though it definitely had way fewer branching quests than the previous games in the series though. Like, how would the Witcher 2's having literally two different second acts influence the word count?
Anyways, word count is a pointless discussion without context -- critical path, branching quests, choice/consequence, etc. Quality, not quantity, after all.
JamesHolden
Banned
It's sounding like that's more important for some people than it is for me personally. I want a taste, but I don't want a full bite. Considering avoiding future videos beyond the Andromeda Initiative thing to keep the expectations in check. We'll see if I have the impulse control.
You can't judge the entire writing of a game from 2 minute trailers... but you've gotta figure that there would be at least one good dialogue exchange to show off if they're deliberately picking and choosing the best stuff for trailers.
Sure it's possible that this is all the fault of the marketing team, but after Mass Effect 3 and the other seemingly generic aspects of this game I'm surprised people are so willing to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt here. You guys really think they accidentally chose all the shittiest lines to put in the trailer?
Sure it's possible that this is all the fault of the marketing team, but after Mass Effect 3 and the other seemingly generic aspects of this game I'm surprised people are so willing to give Bioware the benefit of the doubt here. You guys really think they accidentally chose all the shittiest lines to put in the trailer?
ffejeromdiks
Banned
Yep, still looks like uninspired schlock to me. You can even feel the desperation in the editing, editor was probably looking over all the footage he could use and was thinking "jesus...I gotta make this work?!?"
I'll still probably pick it up being a huge fan of the originals, but man my expectations couldn't be any lower, just as generic as can be.
I'll still probably pick it up being a huge fan of the originals, but man my expectations couldn't be any lower, just as generic as can be.
Heckler456
Banned
Where are all these games that make it so Mass Effect Andromeda and its premise can be considered to be "generic"? Like, where are all these "going to a new galaxy" video games, or even "space opera" games? I've been looking for some, got any for me?
Huh, I had no idea Claire Underwood was in this.
So she survives her husband's presidency?
Underwood's are just expanding scope of their plan for domination. Why to rule tiny nation when you can rule Galaxy?
texhnolyze
Banned
Perfect, thanks!
Or, and hear me out, these lines aren't nearly as bad as people are making it out to be, and the rose-tinted goggles of fans are causing them to ignore all the glorious cheese and B-grade dialogue of the original trilogy to boot.
I'm replaying the whole series right now. My wife is currently playing Mass Effect 3 as I type this. My best friend is going through her first experience with the trilogy. I've hearing the dialogue a LOT and, er, well... Andromeda sounds pretty much on par with the vast majority of it.
Now, I acknowledge that ME3's conclusion soured public opinion of the series for many (myself included), and that creates a deep-seated resentment that makes it extremely hard to win folks back over once they conclude that "Bioware is dead and can't do good stories or games anymore", and it's far, FAR easier to reinforce that negative confirmation bias than it is to radically shift opinions.
It's why they can release a 2 minute trailer, but folks won't shut up about a 1 second bit of janky animation, as if the originals (particularly ME1) weren't awash in janky animation. They'll complain about "generic faces" when Vanderloo Shepard's face was on every collage of grizzed, mid-30s white guy with brown or shaved heads from last gen gaming.
And I GET IT, because for three years I haven't been blown away either. But at the same time, I also see things folks are tearing apart and going "wait a second... this stuff was all present in the original games. The ones people said they loved." And I think we've created blind-spots to those original blemishes or problems and only cherry-picked the characters, faces, cutscenes, story-beats, or moments from those games that resonated with us and stuck in our heads... rather than the ones that were rough around the edges and thus faded from our collective memories.
I think of it like this; if Mass Effect 3's ending never happened and soured fans, and we were fresh off a reception like ME2's, would this trailer hype me up more? The answer is a definitive "yes", and their intentional and careful attempts to go back to the spirit of Mass Effect 1, with a wide galaxy open for us to venture through, to evoke that same feeling of self-discovery the latter games was missing, I feel is a step in the right direction.
And now that I've seen more of the squadmates, and I like what I'm seeing, I'm more than willing to give them a lot more credit than they've received from me thus far. They can always drop the ball, of course, but they have my attention and my interest.
... And considering my state five years ago where I nearly swore the whole franchise off altogether, that's no small feat in and of itself.
lastplayed
Member
I don't know why, but Ryder is giving me dull Inquisitor vibes, in terms of personality.
I miss jerkShepard and assholeHawke.
I miss jerkShepard and assholeHawke.
Eh, that's looking at the criticism way too literally I think. Just because we don't have video games with this exact same premise doesn't mean the tropes, dialogue, characterization, etc can't be generic. I mean, we're talking about a trailer that has an almost completely paraphrased quote from The Avengers in it...
lastplayed
Member
Humans look terrible. I think I hate them. I'm going to need an all alien squad to succeed with this mission.
This is the kinda human I want on my team
Not whatever the shit those people are.
I loved Zaeed, mainly for the voice actor.
RIP Robin.
JamesHolden
Banned
I think for some of us that are huge Sci Fi fans, the setting is arguably just as important than the dialog. I would play a generic Mass Effect like RPG because I like being immersed in a fantasy world in space.
Well, Andromeda just looks like Inquisition in space. I'm not saying the game will be like this entirely, but aesthetically. It seems to lack its own identity and it 'blends in.'
https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...193-mass-effect-scan-ntsc-mass-effect.jpg&f=1 This stands out to me.
Then you have the menus: https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...tent_images/2008/05/mass-effect-pc/b1.jpg&f=1 http://abload.de/img/menu9qz3y.png
Mass Effect 1 had a film grain filter, giving the game a 1970s/80s Sci-Fi feel. https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...reenshots-mass-effect-461675_1280_760.jpg&f=1 https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http://mass-effect.by/img/planet/citadel2.jpg&f=1
Mass Effect 2's art direction was more noir-like, fitting in with the darker tone of the game. https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...6/c/Mass_Effect_2_Illium_by_droot1986.jpg&f=1 https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...ds/2013/03/Mass-Effect-2-Illusive-Man.jpg&f=1 https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...155/e/5/mass_effect_2_omega_by_igamer.jpg&f=1 https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...60-screenshot-c-mon-shepard-dance-put.jpg&f=1
Then you have the characters: https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u..._andromeda_cinematic_trailer_header-2.jpg&f=1
https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u...eI/s1600/mass-effect-2-characters-h1n.png&f=1
Andromeda just looks uninspired, the art direction/setting of the game doesn't stand out like the previous games.
LongDongJunon
Member
I'm playing this for sure but that was some CW level "we're the next generation" type shit.
I loved Zaeed, mainly for the voice actor.
RIP Robin.
Nobody said goddamn like that guy.
Of course, if the ME3 ending never happened like it did, this game wouldn't exist at all...
ffejeromdiks
Banned
So what when I say something is generic I have to be talking about video games? I'm talking in general captain defense force.
Have you even seen any good science fiction? Andromeda comes across as low tier star trek fan fiction, all of the dreadfully overdone sci-fi tropes are on display in this trailer, I expected more from Bioware. Taking influence from pop sci-fi is nothing new for mass effect, but the influence was supplemental in the past, it only helped to prop up the already fantastic narrative, whereas Andromeda looks completely hollow and it's entire premise is cliche at this point. It's pretty much like going from Star Trek TNG to JJ Abrams Star Trek, gone is the purely cerebral focus, instead replaced with focus-tested crowd pleasing spectacle and adventure, which in effect makes it appear painfully generic in my book.
You can look into my previous posts where I go in detail about the art-direction of the game as well. As an artist the first two games and it's art direction were stellar, unique designs that really stood out in the video game world at the time, and I was deeply inspired by it's sense of strong mechanical design, I would get excited just seeing new designs pop up in the previous games as each game had it's own visual identity. Andromeda's art direction is painfully, PAINFULLY generic, nothing stands out, every single design is just a riff on a previous one in the old trilogy. It doesn't have an original bone in it's body and it's visual identity amounts to being unoriginal and filled with bad cliche's, it's really not hard at all to see how so many people see it as generic when it's not really doing anything new, doesn't look particularly great, and is telling a rather boring story.
BuckRobotron
Member
Not rocking my world, but I watched and liked trailer 2 well enough.
See, I'm old enough to remember when some folks called the original Mass Effect "just a glorified Star Trek game". And, you know what, ME1 basically is exactly that. It's Star Trek with Force powers (biotics). It even used certain Star Trek actors. Then it added in a dash of Battlestar Galactica. It wasn't unique in all of sci-fi, but it was unique for the gaming landscape.
But... there are scenes just like that in Andromeda.
It looks like quintessential Mass Effect to me.
Durrzerker
Banned
Condescending name-calling, glamorization of old media with constant barbs towards new media, and the 'focus-tested' buzzword.
Yep, that's an elitist shitpost alright.