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MASS EFFECT: ANDROMEDA Gameplay Series #3: Exploration

Wulfram said:
They got there by flying there. The lack of mass relays are why it took 600 years to get there.

Interstellar travel has always been possible in Mass Effect without relays, it just takes a bunch of time so people don't bother to go too far from the relay.
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AWizardDidIt said:
1.) The Andromeda Initiative is not officially formed because of the Reapers, it's simply an exploration and colonization mission
2.) No Mass Relays exist in Andromeda
3.) They get to Andromeda by traveling for over 600 years using "conventional" warp drive
4.) The game is set in a single cluster of stars which represents a few dozen star systems. Mass Effect drives are perfectly viable to navigate these and can usually get between various star systems in a few days.
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All is crystal clear now. Thanks for clearing that up for me. :)
 
I'm still waiting for a video showing the character creator. At this point, I'm assuming IGN will reveal it before Bioware lol.
 
jtb said:
I just like having that dopamine rush of knowing that every encounter gives me some kind of a reward. That's a necessity for RPGs, imo. Appeals to the lizard brain in me.

I hated hated hated ME2's so-called loot.
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Funny, I have the same thing, in a different context. I'm relatively flexible about loot in non-MMOs, and tend to enjoy it only if it makes my character look better.

But give me a house/ base / castle/ ship / whatever (Geralt's house in Blood & Wine, the castle in DA:I, the Normandy, etc.) to optimize with meaningless upgrades, and my lizard brain lights up. I will frequently deprioritize objectively better gameplay elements just so that I can make sure I have ALL THE UPGRADES.
 
This works well as an upgrade to the exploration in Mass Effect 1, but it looks like they tried to make the entire game around it. I have still yet to see any kind of compelling hook in Andromeda like the first trilogy had. So far the word that best describes this game is....soulless.
 
bigDave said:
first 13 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p_wFVfDxJQ
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Well holy crap.

If 21:9 support is in this just sold me on the game.

The gameplay segments here where phenomenal. It felt like a much more realistic space due to the scale of everything. And holy crap at how clean everything looks at 4K and how nice those textures are!

My only two nitpicks would be not so great facial animations and that the utility tool thing on your arm doesn't display as 3D as I'd like. For instance, the 3D-like UI's on all of the displays in the medical bay seemed to stand out more and had much more of a 3D layering to them that made them look really nice. As well as having multiple colors.
 
VlaudTheImpaler said:
Well holy crap.

If 21:9 support is in this just sold me on the game.

The gameplay segments here where phenomenal. It felt like a much more realistic space due to the scale of everything. And holy crap at how clean everything looks at 4K and how nice those textures are!

My only two nitpicks would be not so great facial animations and that the utility tool thing on your arm doesn't display as 3D as I'd like. For instance, the 3D-like UI's on all of the displays in the medical bay seemed to stand out more and had much more of a 3D layering to them that made them look really nice. As well as having multiple colors.
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Yeah, 21:9 is in. Frostbite's 21:9 support has been great thus far too.

https://twitter.com/AarynFlynn/status/817167125068382208
 
StalkerUKCG said:
To be brutally fair
Ilium is a 3 Larges areas and some corridors.
Omega is 2 areas and about 7 corridors of various sizes
Kasumi's DLC takes place in about 3 Rooms

ME2 was very much 2 or 3 Planets and a Loyalty mission if we have to do that again it's par for the course with the franchise. Not that I think we will and even if it is the case at least the planets are bigger and more varied this time around.

ME2 and ME3 are basically corridor shooters with some open areas. ME1 Environments are nothing really special either.

The mass effect locations have always been fairly bland. Even the bigger locations like the Citadel got both progressively smaller and always made you think the environment is huge but limited your travel paths significantly.

You're really romanticizing how the original trilogy is.
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Thinking about this now, what I'm expecting from Andromeda in the best case scenario are hubs somewhat similar to Feros and Noveria in Mass Effect 1. Those planets along with Therum and Virmire to an extent had a balanced mix of open Mako sections, town--like quest hubs, and on-foot action maps. I'm basically imagining that but with more open space outside the "towns" you traverse with the Nomad towards locations where you get out and do stuff. I'm fine with that in itself.
 
This part gave me some unpleasant DA:I flashbacks.
...And accomplishing specific tasks
F7lUhizgK.png

...related to that planets story
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Please don't be similar to those MMO-style fetch quests in DA:I. Please.
 
I know a lot of this is referencing Mass Effect 1, yet to me this sounds like a modern update to Knights of the Old Republic (1) just with the scope afforded by modern hardware and TPS mechanics

Hope Bioware pull this off
 
jdstorm said:
I know a lot of this is referencing Mass Effect 1, yet to me this sounds like a modern update to Knights of the Old Republic (1) just with the scope afforded by modern hardware and TPS mechanics

Hope Bioware pull this off
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really? it sounds like nothing like KOTOR, imo.

otoh, Dragon Age: Origins followed the KOTOR formula to a T.
 
I hope we get to see the original galaxy more one day.

I'll say again that i really wish Bioware would let other developers use this IP. I can only dream what an adventure game could do with this setting.
 
John Kowalski said:
I hope we get to see the original galaxy more one day.

I'll say again that i really wish Bioware would let other developers use this IP. I can only dream what an adventure game could do with this setting.
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I want the opposite haha. I wish BioWare would go back to licensing stuff like D&D/Star Wars because their original IPs are all incredibly generic and their world building is mediocre.

I'll still take a BioWare KOTOR 3.
 
It sucks I'm one of the very few people that loved the big empty worlds of ME1. I wish theyd throw some in there, makes the galaxy more realistic.

And it was compelling to drive over this entire useless world and finding like one artifact, that felt like you are the only one to ever find it. I DUNNO
 
Darknessbear said:
It sucks I'm one of the very few people that loved the big empty worlds of ME1. I wish theyd throw some in there, makes the galaxy more realistic.

And it was compelling to drive over this entire useless world and finding like one artifact, that felt like you are the only one to ever find it. I DUNNO
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Do you play Elite? Because that sounds like the game for you.

Not saying that some barren planets wouldn't be welcome here at all. Just letting you know in case you hadn't played it.
 
I liked the empty worlds of ME1.

What I hated was the bunkers that were literally copied and pasted. Fucking inexcusable.

(Then they did it again in Dragon Age 2! I mean, jesus christ Bioware)
 
Platforming looks like fun in Andromeda: hopefully it's easy to control or there will be a lot of those 'Critical Mission Failure' screens XD.
 
I was actually thinking when I watched the exploration vid that it would be cool if there where a planet like Tatooine and all the settlements where underground and stuff. Actually, I think my dream is for a Water planet like this. Where the landing platforms are above water and everything else is below. Imagine the awesome windows that could look out into the depths. You could even have parts of the underwater networks extend into underwater cave systems and such so you could still have wide open spaces.
 
jtb said:
really? it sounds like nothing like KOTOR, imo.

otoh, Dragon Age: Origins followed the KOTOR formula to a T.
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Kotor after its slow start on Taris was essentially exactly like this on a smaller scale. The galaxy map opened up and you had access to 5 planets. Each planet consisted of a hub world/loading dock. A Dungeon or 2 and or other multiple points of interest. These points were linked by interesting paths.

On tatooine that involved walking through the desert, kooriban walking through the School to get to the puzzle tombs ect

Then after you explore most of those a few events trigger any you unlock new worlds when past the point of no return.

Mass Effect 1's best planets followed this formula, but others were more linear combat scenarios or mostly empty worlds that were populated by colonists who shopped at the same Space Ikea. Consolidating those side activities into 10ish populated planets seems like a great idea
 
Andodalf said:
It's been a looooong time since ME3, and I still get matches on XB360 all the time.
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Yeah, 360/Xbone (since the game is BC, also on EA Access) have quite a lot of players. Pretty fast matchmaking. And even new players, i think, seen some with very low challenge scores.
 
Getting really bad DA:I vibes from that vid.

If this game is going to force you to grind side activities to progress the story, I'm going to be pissed.
 
I'm going to need some GAF reviews from people that have EA access. I always wait until the night before to pre-order and pre-download on PSN.
 
jtb said:
I want the opposite haha. I wish BioWare would go back to licensing stuff like D&D/Star Wars because their original IPs are all incredibly generic and their world building is mediocre.

I'll still take a BioWare KOTOR 3.
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Having spent days of my life discussing the intricacies of Thedas this comment simply does not compute.
 
Darknessbear said:
It sucks I'm one of the very few people that loved the big empty worlds of ME1. I wish theyd throw some in there, makes the galaxy more realistic.

And it was compelling to drive over this entire useless world and finding like one artifact, that felt like you are the only one to ever find it. I DUNNO
Click to expand...

Oh god, I feel the same. ME1 didn't get the balance right, because there weren't enough of the full-to-the-brim uncharted worlds (read: any), but I loved roving around in the Mako with almost nothing to find but a shifty-looking cow.
 
jtb said:
I want the opposite haha. I wish BioWare would go back to licensing stuff like D&D/Star Wars because their original IPs are all incredibly generic and their world building is mediocre.

I'll still take a BioWare KOTOR 3.
Click to expand...

Seriously? I mean, I'd take KOTOR 3 too, but Mass Effect has pretty great world building.

I know this is heresy, but in my mind ME's setting is vastly better than Star Wars'. I mean, what's an interesting culture in depicted in a Star Wars movie? Is there even culture, period, beyond things like "Ewoks live in in the forest and have spears"? It's a famous IP because it was one of the first of its kind to gain prominence, but its world building honestly sucks.

The genophage storyline alone is more interesting, complex, and affecting than anything in any Star Wars IP I've encountered.
 
Darknessbear said:
It sucks I'm one of the very few people that loved the big empty worlds of ME1. I wish theyd throw some in there, makes the galaxy more realistic.

And it was compelling to drive over this entire useless world and finding like one artifact, that felt like you are the only one to ever find it. I DUNNO
Click to expand...

I know that feel bro. Unfortunately heavy use of empty space is so aggressively criticised that it's default "bad" for some people. I love my stretches of nothingness.
 
Darknessbear said:
It sucks I'm one of the very few people that loved the big empty worlds of ME1. I wish theyd throw some in there, makes the galaxy more realistic.

And it was compelling to drive over this entire useless world and finding like one artifact, that felt like you are the only one to ever find it. I DUNNO
Click to expand...

I liked it too
 
EventHorizon said:
This works well as an upgrade to the exploration in Mass Effect 1, but it looks like they tried to make the entire game around it. I have still yet to see any kind of compelling hook in Andromeda like the first trilogy had. So far the word that best describes this game is....soulless.
Click to expand...

Dont buy it then. If nothing you have seen so far looks "compelling" its not for you is it. This shit looks fucking amazing, they have smashed this out the park guaranteed.
 
Darknessbear said:
It sucks I'm one of the very few people that loved the big empty worlds of ME1. I wish theyd throw some in there, makes the galaxy more realistic.

And it was compelling to drive over this entire useless world and finding like one artifact, that felt like you are the only one to ever find it. I DUNNO
Click to expand...

I liked it a lot too, they were cheap and quick distractions but it added a really nice aspect of presence to the galaxy that really helped the whole galaxy feel like a big place with a couple spots of high activity. Changing the Mako through the console made those empty places a lot of fun to drive around with the crazy physics.

It's unfortunate that contemporary standards just wouldn't allow for that kind of experimental, not completely functional or valuable mechanics that nonetheless add a ton to the sense of place and general expression of the game world.
 
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