Mass Effect: Andromeda

[Luxorek]

Getting Worried now.............................
These were posted by Bioware themselves, do they think this looks good?
http://blog.bioware.com/2017/01/31/m...haracter-kits/

Talk about souless eyes, geez. I'm glad they 'fixed' it, eyes are a mirror of the soul as they say. Convincing eye movement can make all the difference in the world, so here's hoping for that.

EDIT: Talk about being hoodwinked. So they didn't fix it and that 'edit' on the right is a fan thing. Woops. Still... doesn't look that bad in proper lighting.

Disney eyes and all.

 

[Cheylus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3q_Nd5arZM
The gameplay I hoped for. "Profiles", class bonuses and character progression in general are better than what they did previously. Seems to me there are a lot of options and meaningful tweaking here and there, and multiple interesting setup to choose. I'm glad they aren't focusing on having mostly "% bonuses / more damage" while upgrading a character, that's what I need in a long game.
Bad AI might be an issue though, from what I've seen.

ps: a lot of previews (there was a press showcase some days ago) mentionned performance issues and very bad animations.

 

[Guest 3847602]

Meh, combat looks a little too fast-paced for my taste. Still don't like the removal of class system one bit and probably never will.
On the plus side, I really love the return of overheat system from ME1. And my precious M-96 Mattock rifle.

 

[Cheylus]

Classes are called Profiles instead, it's hardly a removal. It's pretty much like the weapon changes from ME1/2 to ME3, with the removal of restrictions, not weapons. You can still build an adept, a sentinel, etc. and there are bonuses and gameplay changes by doing so (Sentinel gets a power armor, Engineer a drone, etc.). There is even a seventh class on top of that.
This is the first Mass Effect with proper character building to me. Before it was only a matter of checking boxes, and you finished ME1/2/3 with 9/10th of the boxes checked. Every players ended up playing every classes the same way.

 

[Guest 3847602]

I get that, I just feel that giving players the opportunity to switch profiles in the middle of combat kinda defeats the purpose of having versatile squad.
Look at the fight with the fiend when he explains switching between favorites:

https://youtu.be/d3q_Nd5arZM?t=96

That's precisely what our teammates were for in the previous games - to cover Shepard's deficiencies, Shepard was covering theirs. They were a team. Now they just look like Ryder's backup.

Anyway, that's just what it looks like to me after watching these few minutes of gameplay. I might feel differently after watching someone's letsplay once the game is out.

BTW, system requirements has been revealed:

http://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-andromeda-system-requirements-revealed/

 

[Cheylus]

17 minutes of gameplay :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9rw...ature=youtu.be

The cutscenes animations are really bad and godamnit, the voice acting of Peebee.

 

[Rawls]

17 minutes of gameplay : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9rw...ature=youtu.be
The cutscenes animations are really bad and godamnit, the voice acting of Peebee.

I didn't mind PeeBee's VA. Definitely agree about the cut-scenes (especially FemRyder and the Asari antagonist). Bioware's never had great facial animations as far as I can recall though. The combat looked really fun.

 

[Cheylus]

Exploration trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts9WLMSAYVE

First 13 minutes of the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p_wFVfDxJQ

 

[Rawls]

Watched the exploration trailer. Managed to not watch the first 13 minutes video so far. Roughly 36 systems, 100+ planets, but only a "handful" of worlds you can actually live on.

 

[Pug.]

One of the things that has me concerned is their recent statement that one of the worlds in Andromeda is bigger than the entirety of Dragon Age Inquisition. They were making the same kinds of comparisons when DAI came out (a single map being as large as DA:O, etc.), and look how that came out. Not saying that the game was trash or anything, but it was certainly bereft of meaningful secondary content, and you could clearly tell that they were stretched in terms of their ability to fill out all of that real estate. If Rawls statement is true and there are 100+ planets, I have a feeling that a good number of them are going to be like No Man's Sky, i.e. barren landscapes populated with a few creatures that roam around and minerals that you can harvest. Any word yet on whether all of these places are hand crafted, or are they a product of procedural generation?

 

[Rawls]

If Rawls statement is true and there are 100+ planets, I have a feeling that a good number of them are going to be like No Man's Sky, i.e. barren landscapes populated with a few creatures that roam around and minerals that you can harvest. Any word yet on whether all of these places are hand crafted, or are they a product of procedural generation?

There are 100+ planets in the Heleus cluster ... you can only land on a "handful" of hand crafted worlds to do lots of missions on. The others (I'm assuming) are resource gathering, lore building, etc.This article does a pseudo decent job of explaining it -- even if it does misspell "Heleus." https://www.gamingnexus.com/News/39...a-handful-of-worlds-in-Mass-Effect-Andromeda/

 

[Cheylus]

Places better be larger than DA:I areas, with the Nomad in play.

Journos opinions on the demo they played last week (from this idiot smudboy pov):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb5JPYol3F0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kScUqqq9GU

 

[Rawls]

Article from IGN - http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/...player-freedom

New Andromeda Initiative Briefing on the "Golden Worlds" - https://www.masseffect.com/andromeda...nd-settlements

Spoiler

Habitat 1 is an arid world with underground rivers.
Habitat 2 is a mineral rich moon orbiting a Gas Giant.
Habitat 3 is a jungle planet.
Habitat 4 looks like plains with some pillars, but is valued for having lots of water.
Habitat 5 is the bio luminescent looking planet - and is dextro friendly for Turnians and Quarians - P.S. this is the first time Quarians have been mentioned as in game.
Habitat 6 has wide oceans and a temperate climate.
This video claims Habitat 7 has all the markers of a tropical paradise.

Spoiler

But we know from various sources this is probably an inaccurate statement regarding Habitat 7

EDIT: Interview https://www.vg247.com/2017/03/08/ma...ike-that-you-probably-shouldnt-play-the-game/

 

[Odinsauge]

The habitats are looking damn nice. Really interesting and not boring landscapes you could find everywhere else.

I'm curious about the launch trailer that should air today.

Although the game really looks nice, I haven't preordered it, I think I'll wait for some reviews.

 

[KasumiGoto]

The biotic powers in the game look really amazing! I will probably miss the old squad members at times, but hopefully the new ones will make me like them as well.

 

[Cheylus]

I've seen the launch trailer (it's ugly) and watched two lengthy streams. I've lost interest in everything in the game except for gameplay (and that's coming from someone who values Inquisition more than Origins). Even the multiplayer..., they have the best engine to make a good MP with evolutive and vast arenas, vehicles, and they only reskined what ME3MP was.

 

[Odinsauge]

After seeing the launch trailer, I think even more that ME is missing some nice space battles. I mean, you control the nomad why not the tempest?

 

[tortugueta]

Not saying that the game [Dragon Age: Inquisition] was trash or anything, but it was certainly bereft of meaningful secondary content, and you could clearly tell that they were stretched in terms of their ability to fill out all of that real estate.

Well, if you're not saying it, I will. It was trash.

One thing that has me sort of concerned is the main characters. It may be that I'm getting old, but for some reason playing as one of two teenagers does not seem very appealing to me. After watching some of the videos they have released, I find daddy Ryder a much cooler character that those two kids.

 

[Corewolf]

I've seen the launch trailer (it's ugly) and watched two lengthy streams. I've lost interest in everything in the game except for gameplay (and that's coming from someone who values Inquisition more than Origins). Even the multiplayer..., they have the best engine to make a good MP with evolutive and vast arenas, vehicles, and they only reskined what ME3MP was.

Can't agree with you about Dragon Age (Hated inquisition, II was meh) but I am right there with you with the Andromeda trailers. I did the Andromeda Inititave videos just to get my helmet, but I didn't actually watch any other than the weapons video. Partly not to ruin the story, partly because games don't know how to market anymore without overhyping things or just making the trailers and commercials bland and generic.

 

[Odinsauge]

Can't agree with you about Dragon Age (Hated inquisition, II was meh) but I am right there with you with the Andromeda trailers. I did the Andromeda Inititave videos just to get my helmet, but I didn't actually watch any other than the weapons video. Partly not to ruin the story, partly because games don't know how to market anymore without overhyping things or just making the trailers and commercials bland and generic.

But I think the Andromeda initiative videos were quite good. They were made like recruiting videos and don't actually tell something about the story. The main trailer revealed way more than these videos.