Mass Effect: Andromeda

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The world looks so empty.
New non-humans' design looks rather funny.
Sarah, WTF with your tiny legs and creepy face? Bad genes?
MAKO again?
The UI is a bad joke.

Doesn't look that convincing.
:eredinfacepalm:

BTW, 10 years ago.. Don't you see the resemblance?
 
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Why is the Pathfinder casting igni and using Witcher sense? :p

This is what I was afraid of - familiar mechanics half baked in the sequel. The trailer looks like ME3 with a few new combat tricks and a camera I still don't like. Animations seem off, and it must be said: the cinematics are bland. What happened to their cinematic flair? This isn't even close to what ME2 accomplished let alone TW3. Compare the TP combat and weapon animations to the latest GOW game, and this isn't even in the same league for delivering impactful gun combat. In development this long and it looks like a shoddy expansion.
 
Okay so my thoughts from that trailer:

The scenery looks beautiful! Dragon Age Inquisition was stunning too but this looks amazing. BioWare have done brilliantly with the Frostbite engine. So pretty.

The facial animations are a bit off in places, but I'm guessing that sort of thing can be fixed.

I'm seeing a lot of DA:I similarities (which for me is good, because DA:I was a great game, just with a few flaws that I think Bioware are hopefully aware of).

I'm so hyped to see a lady Turian. Basically Bioware just needs to deliver with the hot space bisexuals/lesbians and i'll be happy. I hope the main story is good. Ugh I just want more info. Can Spring 2017 be here now please!!!

And finally, the combat looks brilliant. Very fast-paced with lots of biotic charging.
 
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Worse than the Creation Engine? Really?

I'm liking it, much better than the previous trailer.

"Igni" was already in ME3.

I can see what will be done in multiplayer now, which I'm very interested in. This doesn't look like a new iteration of the ME formula (or at least a ME1 with the right budget and tech), and I needed new approaches to enjoy a new game.
 
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metalmaniac21;n7141430 said:
Wait, you want Andromeda to steer it's focus from story and worldbuilding with meaningful quests to MMO-gameplay shenangians? No, no no no no no no, NO! Inquisition gathered lots of good mechanics (the blue-colored good sir above digs) that doesn't work good thrown together and it's main focus on repeating forever Kill/Bring X things doesn't do a great justice to them. Not to mention again how little of story and world there's in Inquisition compared to other games.

Glad that you've asked, because I don't, suprised? I want lighter RPG elements in ME combined with open world, not second Inquisition. For 'Heavy Metal'-rpg purposes there are tons of others, more suitable games.

No not the MMO stuff, as I said, the side quests were just bad but the approach of converting a huge continent into playable levels was quite good. 100% open world won't work for Andromeda too. Also the mix of tactical and action oriented combat was somehow nice. For Andromeda I'd prefer of course something more action oriented.
Yes there was not enough story in Inquisition but the story that was there was well told. At least the main story and the bigger side quests. Also there was so much detail in each level. I still prefer Origins which had way denser and better storytelling but from all that Bioware made Inquisition is still quite good after Origins.

And no I'm not surprised, I was just curious. ME was well known to attract RPG players and nonRPG players. But Bioware stands for role playing games and many fans didn't like the approach of ME2 and also DA2.

Personally I want proper character progression and as I have companions I want to develop them too (like in DA:O or Inquisition) and not to be just some equipment (like in DS2 and ME2).

Rawls I totally agree.

Cheylus My fear is, that the multiplayer turns out to be a rip off of the Inquisition mp. Sure it was an interesting concept but there was no long term motivation and don't forget that it was technically total crap and 90% unplayable.


EDIT: So I finally watched the trailer in full length.

My thoughts:
The face animation really looks shitty. But the overall look of the game is quite nice.
Oh look, Bioware dialog wheels again.
Wait, they look far away from earth for a new home for mankind. Then why are there so many humans on this planets?
Combat looks ok but I'm not sure if it will feel good. RPG + modern weapons is always a bit tricky.
 
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I never understood the "DAI is a MMO" stuff.
If you mean it's an MMO because of "meaningless side quests with little to no contextualisation" I agree, but terrible side quests is not a MMO thing. People are too forgiving with Origins: if you look at DAO side quests (just look at all the sidequests list for the Korcari Wilds), they were as bad as DAI's structurally, but at least it was (a bit) more contextualized.
If you mean it's an MMO because it's as "colorful" as in most MMOs or because you have a skillbar with cooldowns. Hmm, ok, that's getting more and more rare to see skillbars in games, except in Infinity Engine-inspired games and MMOs.
If you mean it's an MMO because it's massively multiplayer well...
I also thought both the story and storytelling were better in Inquisition than Origins (writing itself is another topic). Origins is your typical LOTR story (with pinches of Black Company). Inquisition builds its own lore and departs from the usual LOTR stuff. Other than that, from the characters to the areas, DAI reminded me a lot more of Baldur's Gate. Go figure, then. I might be the only one to think Inquisition was very "old school", for better and worse.
Enough about DAI. People already thought MEA would be a "DAI in space" since they announced it, and they will obviously stick to that motto eventhough what we've seen so far isn't really Inquisitionish (but ME1ish? absolutely).

I would have understand a NMS reference, even a Star Citizen one for some points, but DAI..., it's off-topic entirely.

VikingStudios I only spent a dozen hours in DAI MP, i can relate to that and I completely agree. But once again why talking about DAI when they're obviously building something with ME3 MP in mind? DA and ME gameplay never had something in common.
There's one thing I liked in DAI:MP, somewhat randomly generated maps.
 
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It gets compared with an MMO because of its structure. The combat on one side and the world and how to do quests on the other side.
And that's a point that was somehow negative in DA:I you had large maps but you just farmed them, and besides the stupid kill x of this and collect y of that you don't visit most of the places once. Also 90% of the quests were started by some letter in a corpse.
This was way better in DA:O also storytelling was, in my opinion better. In DA:I often had the feeling that I missed something or that the game doesn't tell enough to fully understand whats going on (especially the grey wardens part). In DA:O i never had this feeling. Also In DA:O each region had it's own story and it was well told. In DA:I the single maps also had somehow a background story but it was way more static, like "oh another battlefield where something happened and now the situation got completely stuck, lets discover the map, reveal what happened and also solve the conflict". In DA:O I had more the feeling of an dynamic story. Like in Orzammar, where everything starts with the Kings son and that story happens, no matter if you play him or not. Sure the situation was also somehow stuck and you resolved it but it felt way more natural than in DA:I. And in the mages tower I always had the feeling that I came just in the right moment. I really liked the main story of Inquisition, don't get me wrong but some parts where not told that good. Also the reveal of Flemeths true identity was a bit weak. If you didn't read all the elven lore in the game you got left with just little information.

Why do you think it is off topic? Look on the 3 ME and the 3 DA titles. They influenced each other all the time, so I think Andromeda will also be influenced by them.
 
I never "farmed" or "grind" in DAI, I felt like my progression was mine and not forced, with a lot of optional stuff to tailor my playthough to my liking (of course your perception of the game could change if you think you have to explore and complete everything in one playthrough).
ME3 had the same "letter on a corpse" structure for a lot of meaningless side quests (a hundred times worse than DAI in my opinion) and nobody thought it was a MMO aspect. I wasn't impressed nor shaken by DAI open areas. I looked at it like a technical improvement of DAO/DA2 maps (the same but without loading times, predetermined roads, invisible walls or convenient deadends), which was again more reminiscent to me of Infinity Engine games "maps", as thematic as Inquisition areas.
I was pretty invested in the lore of Inquisition (more than Origins), so I managed to immerse myself in the story. As the first installment of the series, Origins had to be more explicit. I agree about Orzammar being a little gem in the series, and with Inquisition not having a single story mission on par with that.

Of course, comparing the two licences is relevant for BioWare "trademarks" (dialog wheel, characters, morality system, save import, romances and overall structure of a story/writing). But gameplay-wise (combat-wise) I don't think DA and ME can be compared, from the number of managed characters, to the rhythm of combat, to the type of weapons, leveling, strategies and level design...
I have a hard time seeing Inquisition influence over Andromeda, except for the sudden appearance, in the licence, of huge areas (...which was a thing 10 years ago in ME1), the sudden appearance of indivudual cooldowns (ME1 again), the sudden appearance and importance of crafting materials (which is a thing in every "open world" RPG now; and it makes a lot of sense in MEA considering the context) or the sudden focus on "less pause/less cover-based/more dynamic gameplay" (which already appears fully in ME3 MP).
Well, I can't see the DAI bits.

Inquisition was a a better iteration of Awakening in most aspects, in my opinion. I expect MEA to be a better iteration of ME1 (and from that perspective and in my opinion, that's a success so far).


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edit: about the trailer: I noticed a clever use of power combo in the end of the video. Ryder uses a turret's flamethrower then Pulls an enemy towards himself to be fried by the turret (Pull now can be maintened for a bit, apparently). You couldn't do that previously because Turrets and Pull were powers for distinct classes. Now that you can build your classes as you like instead of following the "adept/vanguard/soldier/engineer..." template, it seems like we'll be able to be more creative gameplay-wise.
If I understand correctly, the biotic shield seen in the "vanguard" segment of the video displays the use of a biotic shield which could be improved to reflect bullet or enemy powers towards the emitter.
Now Ammo powers are consummables (1 ammo consommable = 3 magazines are charged with that power). It gets more situationnal and I can already see how it will make MP more interesting.
Having several mobile defensive powers (biotic shield, omni-shield...) is perfect to prevent what plagued ME3 MP: a lot of teams were stationary. So far the gameplay reminds me a lot of what I've seen in Overwatch.

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edit2: another Andromeda Initiative vid here:
https://www.masseffect.com/fr-fr/andromeda-initiative/training-hub/arks-and-nexus
 
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Aside from creepy protagonist, there's lots of wrong in this new trailer. (I hoped that in FOURTH time Bioware could model a better femare protagonist's face but they didn't)

First, the color grading. Combat sequences looks too bright, like a cartoonish space marines bash each other for the childern's amusement. SweetFX is a must have, it's pretty much confirmed.

In fact, all of the animations. Ryder's face doesn't move when she takes away the gun, I mean nothing on her face moves, even eyes are resting. And why would she do this if there are two armed krogans? She's in the minority and fucking with 4 armed men with force shields, and she's totally unable to defend herself.

The planets are DESERTED. Like, EMPTY. Pay attention to the areas that are shown in the video. Mountains on the background are basically walls of the passageways we allowed to walk in. In which way it's an open world game if we are restricted to walk in the valleys, huns or mounts surrounded by cliffs? In an illusion of open world, that's right. Grass and plants doesn't look like they are from another planet at all. Hell, even on Earth there are plenty of strange and alienating looking plants. Bioware could put more effort into world building for such long term project exploring the theme of new galaxy exploration. It's not a realismtalk, it's a question about effort and imagination.
 
[video]https://www.masseffect.com/andromeda-initiative/training-hub/arks-and-nexus[/video]

Video explaining how the Arks and Nexus work. Nexus basically sounds like Citadel with some nifty extra bits.

Areas include:
Residential blocks includes immigration center to help colonists settle on selected homeworld
Archives to see histories of Milky-way races
Hydroponic gardens for quiet escape ... seems sort of like presidium commons in ME3
Vortex Longe - space bar 4.0
Operations center oversees security on nexus & pathfinder HQ
Science labs
 
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Rawls;n7147430 said:
[video]https://www.masseffect.com/andromeda-initiative/training-hub/arks-and-nexus[/video]

Video explaining how the Arks and Nexus work. Nexus basically sounds like Citadel with some nifty extra bits.

Areas include:
Residential blocks includes immigration center to help colonists settle on selected homeworld
Archives to see histories of Milky-way races
Hydroponic gardens for quiet escape ... seems sort of like presidium commons in ME3
Vortex Longe - space bar 4.0
Operations center oversees security on nexus & pathfinder HQ
Science labs
Very ME1-like, perfect
 
Does anyone else think the base movement for Ryder, especially the strafing, feels a bit lumbering? I've rewatched a few times, and there are some nice bits I missed.

- the hub they go to is more lively and clearly much larger than what we got in the past games.

- I like the multidirectional dash move Ryder has.

- the melee attacks look slick and doesn't interrupt the flow of combat.

- the biotic effects are overdone, but I like the explosions and particle effects.
 
Garrison72;n7149280 said:
Does anyone else think the base movement for Ryder, especially the strafing, feels a bit lumbering?

Yeah it seemed a bit awkward when she's running up that ramp in the courtyard.
 
I wonder why they used that dialogue scene when it looked so rough?
Based on the footage my only really complaint are the animations, especially the facial ones, in a game so focused on dialogue it simply does not cut it.
 
In ME2, ME3, DAI, they used "never-seen-after" dialogs, cutscenes and UI (and even sometimes gameplay elements) for demonstration conveniences. The main stuff I deduce from the dialogue scene is that the dialogue wheel is still here and there is a new kind of "interrupt", which is not related to morality.

I don't expect facial animations to look better though but this is a point I can forgive, considering you can do what you want with a character creation and that there are multiple races (facial structures) to animate.

I'm currently replaying ME1 and I like the moment in the beginning of the game when Nihlus' jaw "dropped" (I guess it's the equivalent of "raising an eyebrow" for humans) when he saw the Reaper.
https://youtu.be/9wdgwvMe-7U?t=6m31s
 
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Apparently they said the animations, especially the facial animations, are still being worked on so hopefully that will improve,
I quite like default sara ryder's appearance. She's sort of goofy looking with an interesting nose, like an average looking person not like a supermodel. Also the, imo, horrible hip rolling sexy walk/run animation from DAI hasn't made its way into the game, which makes me very happy. The hair still looks pretty average though, hopefully there will be more styles and colours than DAI had.

I'm still going to wait until way after the release date before making a decision on buying it though. I'm hoping they will release a complete edition, like with DAI, once the development cycle is finished.
 
OH MY F*****G GODS....
I dont know how to properly start really.
When DAI entered "Alpha" several months before release I "voiced my concerns on the forums that its a bit "strange" to "announce" Alpha this fucking late into the development. I got swamped by drones and even mods with "you know shit, Jon Snow". But I was genuinely shocked them talking about how dev team have different work patterns and how they will make it in time. I said no, not really. And I was right coz several weeks later they announced DAI will be postponed (OH NO! Who would have known?!). They praised graphics and what I saw was plastic over plastic covered with cardboard surroundings... of plastic. I chose not to buy DAI.
I bought it now, GOTY for like 4$ or so. I am struggling to crawl through all the shit they put in the game. You HAVE TO do idiotic quests to do war table missions that are relevant - you need power points. So Im running like a fucking retard after an ox or a goat to gain +2 to power... Me, herald of Andraste. After a goat... O_O
Picking herbs. Looking for stashes of clothes, coz refugees are freezing... hunting animals for meat... and all the inquisition forces, that are in the camps are... what exactly? What, Iam killing demons and all the baddies all over, closing rifts and such... so what are they doing?
And those are a MAJORITY missions all over the "LAAARGE" regions. Those are nice looking and diverse, but EMPTY. And I collect herbs. Or minerals. I am a mother of Inquisition. I have to feed, dress and heal all my forces. Coz those little shits cant fend for themselves.

I wanted to voice my concerns over Andromeda (what Ive seen so far) but... awe... they took down the forums... BSN is no longer there :O
I think I know WHY. Because of my concerns. They know in what state the game is, so they dont want to have discussions on the matter to blow out and spread like a plague. And die hard fans are mostly informed, know MO in that field so we actually can form an educated guess (again) in what state the game is.

I cringed when watching the gameplay trailer. I fear the game will reminiscent DAI too much. I mean, the "Spirit" of DAI. Lacking tactics, meaningless fetch-exploration, convoluted story-wise. I see repetitions all over, what is new is the graphic engine. AND AFTER ALL THESE YEARS they cant do a decent RUN animation! WTF? Who constructed the female model? The gap between the legs is to BIG so she moves like a friggin cripple! :rolleyes:

I expect a lot of simplification. Which is BAD in my book. I would really love Andromeda to spark my flame anew for ME (after ME3 debacle - and its not about the ending... mostly). I want it to be good but the published material and bits told here and there are disheartening. Now days I expect a witcher-kind-of-good level of love put into the game. Too many things in life are average to allow for my escapism to fall into its trap.
On the flip side - if the story is stellar I will forgo any critique of any broken mechanic or system.
I want it to be on The Expanse level.
Listen to me rant :D
Zapisz
 
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Cheylus;n7149690 said:
I'm currently replaying ME1 and I like the moment in the beginning of the game when Nihlus' jaw "dropped" (I guess it's the equivalent of "raising an eyebrow" for humans) when he saw the Reaper. https://youtu.be/9wdgwvMe-7U?t=6m31s
A scene as good as any to demonstrate why ME 1 is by far the greatest and the only real Mass Effect.
 
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