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The Mass Effect Community Thread |OT2|
- Thread starter Patryn
- Start date
prag16
Banned
Yeah, ME1 in a vacuum, come on. Garrus and Tali didn't really hit their stride until at least ME2. Liara didn't really have much depth until then either. Ashley/Kaiden were sub-Liam/Cora material imo. Wrex was the man, but not sure I'd put ME1 Wrex above Drack.
The general tone of the game on the other hand, while I didn't mind it, I can see how it may not have clicked as much for some people.
TheUnsunghero26
Member
I still think ME1 Ashley is one of the best written characters in the series.
This article does a good job of explaining why.
This article does a good job of explaining why.
Most of the article uses Ashley within the context of the whole series though. She's great circa ME3 don't get me wrong but she's IMO not great in the first game though no character is in ME1.
Poodlestrike
Banned
ME1 Ashley is probably the best written member of the team barring maybe Wrex. Very strong characterization.
As for series, though... nah. She's got an edge in complexity over most of what we got later, but there's people who beat her at that, and a lot more who're just flat out more entertaining.
As for series, though... nah. She's got an edge in complexity over most of what we got later, but there's people who beat her at that, and a lot more who're just flat out more entertaining.
Razgriz-Specter
Member
Asked in the OT but didn't get a response yet,
is the story xp amount dependent on difficulty?
Lv59 and im trying to get my profiles to Lv6 but not sure if insanity is helping.
is the story xp amount dependent on difficulty?
Lv59 and im trying to get my profiles to Lv6 but not sure if insanity is helping.
Profile level is dependent on skill points invested, not XP.
Razgriz-Specter
Member
Yes, but im trying to level up faster to get the skill points faster.
Ah sorry. Not sure if difficulty plays a part but I'm at level 84 and my profiles are level 6-7 right now on Normal so...
Razgriz-Specter
Member
How'd you level so high?
Was like 39 at the end of the main story did the side stuff but as soon as I hit the 50's it was an absolute crawl.
Reizo Ryuu
Member
welp, about to go 8 hours back because I thought I missed the cora romance...
Razgriz-Specter
Member
I had to go back nearly 5 myself, my dumb self kissed Suvi.
prag16
Banned
You can still turn her down after you kiss her. It's a few dialogue options later. She asks something along the lines of "is this real" or "is this serious" and you can say "I guess not" or something.
Razgriz-Specter
Member
Oh I went with it... until I realized hours later I was missing options with Peebee.
HMMMM
Hopefully they address this in the DLC (if we get any) otherwise we will never get the conclusion to this.
That's not all though, the Ancient AI is extremely unsettling if you put it on the Nexus and even scares SAM; it'd be cool to see more of it.
Razgriz-Specter
Member
Just about got the Platinum, I loved Andromeda.
Reizo Ryuu
Member
Just finished it myself; outstanding.
Kadin
Member
Mass Effect Trilogy is $5.19 on cdkeys.com right now. Bought numerous games from them, never an issue.
This thread is gonna be dead for years and it saddens me a lot.
My book on the trilogy launches in less than an hour (it's in french so I doubt people here would be interested - there could be an english translation later though, I honestly don't know).
I've worked on it for more than a year and stopped by this thread almost everyday, it was like home.
diaspora would loooove the chapter about Lovecraft's influence throughout the games.
My book on the trilogy launches in less than an hour (it's in french so I doubt people here would be interested - there could be an english translation later though, I honestly don't know).
I've worked on it for more than a year and stopped by this thread almost everyday, it was like home.
diaspora would loooove the chapter about Lovecraft's influence throughout the games.
Hey, if it's ever in english I'll pick it up.
Mediking
Member
I'm actually very eager to buy the game on PS4... but I'm waiting for a character creator update before I jump in.
Ah, nice
I'll mention it here if a translation is in the works, if it's ok with the mods. My publisher just started to publish some of their books in english, so let's hope the first batch sells well, and I could be in the second one.
Jack Wall wrote the preface and he's the nicest guy ever.
TC McQueen
Member
What's it about?
Almost everything, creation of the games (the first chapter is actually a long retrospective of BioWare, with a focus on ME), the lore, the story, analysis of the design and artistic direction, the gameplay throughout the games, thematic analysis (that's the biggest chapter), the books and comics, and a whole chapter about the music.
prag16
Banned
If you're talking about the tidbit at EA play, I doubt it changes anything. Might just a teaser that was already baked into their multiplayer roadmap well before release. Don't think this affects the current chances for single player story DLC (which while nonzero are far from a sure thing).
At this point, assume that they'll address anything that they talked about in the initial roadmap but no more. Also do not assume that they will fix everything 100 percent, just that they'll take a stab at it.
Anyone secretly think BioWare is having a rough time atm being dragged through the mud and test BUT will actually come back stronger than ever with the next Dragon Age...?
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Guys what 3 gameplay mechanics from Andromeda would you like to see improved upon in the next ME game? And how exactly?
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Guys what 3 gameplay mechanics from Andromeda would you like to see improved upon in the next ME game? And how exactly?
Hakkon, Trespasser, and Descent were all really strong IMO. ME:A design from top to bottom might be an irredeemable nonsensical mess but the DA team seem to have an increasingly stronger vision of both DA and zone design.
MEA felt like a big step backwards from DAI, especially the DAI DLCs.
Also, I suspect that if there's a next ME game (which is unlikely at this point), they'll scrap nearly everything and return to the drawing board for a total series reboot.
TC McQueen
Member
1. Scanning - If I have to pull out the damn scanner, instead of it just being a vision mode, at least highlight containers and minerals in the area too.
2. Multi-planet quests - Either get rid of them or build a fast travel option into the game so you can hop from planet to planet quickly, even if you have to have a loading screen
3. Crafting/weapon modding - a better interface, better stat boost from augments, not needing to remove a weapon from its loadout slot to disassemble, and the ability to know what mods you have installed on a gun would be great.
While I do want fast travel between planets IMO inter-planetary quests need to go no matter what. It's just poor design to have the player skip across the cluster.
It didn't just feel like it- it was IMO a huge step back from DA:I's DLCs. While DA:I basegame had obvious issues with way too many quests being frivolous shit and the occasional quest requiring you to arbitrarily jump to different regions, the UX and user flow of actually doing anything was 10x better so it was less painful.
Part of why all this hurts so much is that I do think the writing is strong, but with the actual game design being a vehicle for delivering the story and dialogue to the player it gets thrown under the bus.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I don't know if I can pick three specific mechanics, but thinking more broadly about the design...
1) Larger, emptier planetoids that emphasise the geographical sparseness of celestial bodies, the intimidating and inhospitable conditions they exist in, with points-of-interest fewer and more sparsely separated. Andromeda fucks up the one thing it should have gotten right; the sense of scale, wonder, and awe of landing on and exploring uncharted surfaces. The entire conceptualisation of the uncharted worlds, how you explore them and how quests are integrated into them, needs to be reimagined.
2) Either scrap crafting or rebuild the interface and loot distribution. It's nice of them to bring back a pseudo traditional gear system but I don't think it works very well and is more cumbersome and obtuse to navigate than engaging. The game also falls into the crafting pitfall a lot of games do, like The Witcher 3, where it proclaims to offer depth and options but undermines its on systems by making upgrades too cumbersome alongside superfluous distribution of gear through drops.
3) Tighten quest distribution from NPCs to have more enriched, specific characters to talk to instead of so many littered across the planets that ramble on some bullshit garbage side quest that never feels particularly satisfying to secure or resolve. Maybe it's just me, but Andromeda really seemed to be stretching its who-has-a-quest quantity of content across far too many characters. I just lost interest so quickly in combing over areas and speaking to more and more NPCs with medicore quest arcs.
Not that it matters. The series is dead.
Biggest thing that needs improving for me is quest structure. I'm replaying Inquisition at the moment, and for all its flaws in quest structure it's still light years ahead of Andromeda.
Inquisition is like TBC or Wrath era WoW. Lots of simple quests designed to funnel you into new areas and push you towards bigger quests - that's why the shard quests exist, and a lot of the more basic 'go get me bear claws'. Everything is focussed around how you move around the zone, and combined with the fast travel it's a fairly simple affair to sweep through a zone and complete everything in a single route.
Andromeda is like launch era WoW. Tons of quests that you are never sure how valuable they are, with no rhyme or reason as to the quest flow and placement. There isn't a purpose to them, they don't push you into new areas, and you find yourself back tracking and crossing multiple zones at random with no idea whether it's worth it or not.
After that a lot of it is honestly animations and graphics. I still think default male Ryder looks so damn goofy and silly, even after the touch ups. I don't get how they can have so accurately modelled Shepherds face, but for the next game game they managed to turn a male model into a fat faced puppet with wonky expressions.
But yeah, a massive overhaul of the quest structure from top to bottom. It won't surprise you to hear I would be more than happy for them to ditch the open world aspect, as it adds nothing expect labour and grind.
Inquisition is like TBC or Wrath era WoW. Lots of simple quests designed to funnel you into new areas and push you towards bigger quests - that's why the shard quests exist, and a lot of the more basic 'go get me bear claws'. Everything is focussed around how you move around the zone, and combined with the fast travel it's a fairly simple affair to sweep through a zone and complete everything in a single route.
Andromeda is like launch era WoW. Tons of quests that you are never sure how valuable they are, with no rhyme or reason as to the quest flow and placement. There isn't a purpose to them, they don't push you into new areas, and you find yourself back tracking and crossing multiple zones at random with no idea whether it's worth it or not.
After that a lot of it is honestly animations and graphics. I still think default male Ryder looks so damn goofy and silly, even after the touch ups. I don't get how they can have so accurately modelled Shepherds face, but for the next game game they managed to turn a male model into a fat faced puppet with wonky expressions.
But yeah, a massive overhaul of the quest structure from top to bottom. It won't surprise you to hear I would be more than happy for them to ditch the open world aspect, as it adds nothing expect labour and grind.
TC McQueen
Member
Only acceptable if the Reapers are dead and gone. Seriously, what was Bioware thinking when they made a force of nature villain be the primary antagonist and never gave the protagonist factions the ability to fight them without deus ex machina?
Ivory Samoan
Gold Member
My money's on a reboot in 2021-22 or so.
Perhaps earlier, if they for some reason roll with an ME:A2 hybrid reboot (there are ways).
Perhaps earlier, if they for some reason roll with an ME:A2 hybrid reboot (there are ways).
prag16
Banned
I don't see a full blown reboot in terms of the lore.
I'd say somewhere between 2021 and 2025 we'll see a new game that's removed from the trilogy AND Andromeda, but probably focusing more on the trilogy for backstory with Andromeda as a footnote. No Shepard, no Reapers, no Ryders, no Kett, etc.
I'm in the camp that would rather see an Andromeda 2 in ~2020 or so with fixed quest/world design because I thought almost everything else was great. But that's obviously not happening.
Agreed. Shepard's story is done. If there was a reboot with Shepard I would play it. But that's absolutely NOT the direction I'd want them to go.
They're probably going to do some sort of reboot(some story set in the Milky Way, but without Shepard/Reapers. Could also be a story set 100 years after the end of ME3) when the next Xbox and PS5 come out, and after they're done with their next Dragon Age.
So yeah... another 5-7 years or so...
Hopefully they give up on open world, it's just not their strong suit. They could make another game like ME2 but with 10x more lvls/missions in the same style(with less chest-high walls) and people in general would easily like it more than MEA.
So yeah... another 5-7 years or so...
Hopefully they give up on open world, it's just not their strong suit. They could make another game like ME2 but with 10x more lvls/missions in the same style(with less chest-high walls) and people in general would easily like it more than MEA.
I wish they could do that but unless the AAA gaming landscape change radically by the time they make it, it's not going to happen. Publisher only fund big open world and multiplayer focused/game as a service kind of games these days.
That's why I'm not to hopeful about Dylan, that's simply not the kind of game Bioware is good, but if it fail they'll be in big trouble.
Officer.Sanchez
Member
I didn't play Andromeda yet (waiting for the character creator patch) but that's what I'd like to see. A total series reboot.
No HD remaster of the OG trilogy, no more shepard, no more reapers, leave part of the lore intact and start again.
Hawkeye 131
Member
So where's the best place to post technical feedback? I'm experiencing a loading bug.