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Mass Effect: Andromeda Pre-Release Thread
- Thread starter Space Satan
- Start date
Multiple Sarcasm
Arcane
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2007
- Messages
- 3,181
Hopw Roewur Ne: The Thread
imweasel
Guest
Didn't SJW-Ware promise their fans that ME:A would definitely not be "Dragon Age: Inquisition in space"? What a cluster fuck of a game.
Codex loves butthurt though, especially self-induced. This thread exists mainly for that.If Codex didn't like Biowares games these threads wouldn't be this long. Interestingly many in threads have said that ME1 was good and in later ME's are shit. Yet Codex opinion on ME1 when it was published was that it is utter shit and part of decline. So in ten years Codex opinion will be that ME4 was quite qood and ME7 is utter shit.(and seeing a franchise that played a huge part in helping me get over depression getting bashed on my favorite site is kinda disheartening so I pretty much never checked this thread before)
Spazmo said:
Jarmaro
Liturgist
Bioware has big problem with prioritizng. Irrelevant things over important ones. But so far gameplay looks good. I'd play it if I had good enough computer.
Kem0sabe
Arcane
So one of those youtube influencers that is sucking EA/Bioware cock so hard, has decided to do a counter video and argument to the RPS article, only for him to confirm most of the major issues RPS had and it all backfire on him, what a fucking cuck... its hilarious.
Edit: since this has gone a little crazy, I summarised this in a video with some gameplay to demonstrate the points that I make: https://youtu.be/bRA-137jF-4 Hope it helps.
Hi all,
Skill Up here- I just put up the character customisation video earlier today (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41_ExZBIqqU), and I returned to the sub today to see the RPS preview which is pretty scathing to say the least. I wanted to provide a different perspective that directly responds to some of the points he makes.
First of all- no disrespect whatsoever to the previewer for his comments. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I mean no ill-will when offering my own in response.
As background, I think his preview can be summarised by this quote from it:
“The first few hours of Andromeda are a gruesome trudge through the most trite bilge of the previous three games, smeared out in a setting that’s horribly familiar, burdened with some outstandingly awful writing, buried beneath a UI that appears to have been designed to infuriate in every possible way.”
So- what do I think?
OT Baggage
I am unsure what he is referring to when he mentions ‘trite bilge of the previous three games’ as this is a vague statement. If he’s referring to some generic side-quests or character back stories, then sure, there’s some of that. If he’s referring to revisiting older world building stories like the genophage, or Solarian scientific prowess, or Krogan clan structure, then sure- you’ll get some of that too, but only because it’s necessary to orient new players to the legacy elements of the world, and perhaps to remind returning players as well.
The quality of the writing
Overall, I haven’t found the writing nearly as innocuous as he has, and I am someone that really appreciates good writing and storytelling in games. To be fair, Bioware hasn’t been strong in moment-to-moment writing, but they’ve always excelled in world- building. The character dialogue ranges from being passable to good, while side- mission stories/dialogues are definitely on the generic side (so far). But that’s going to be the case in any game- even the mighty Witcher 3 which had some of the best side-quest dialogue/narrative of any game in recent memory. I do think though that solid world-building foundations have been set up that provide a good canvas for future story-telling. It perhaps isn’t as ambitious as it could have been as there is a lot of OT baggage, but that was the direction Bioware took and we have to accept that.
Voice acting
I think complaints about voice acting are very over-blown. Liam’s character in particular is actually really WELL voice acted in my view, as he has a cheeky, laconic charm and a simplicity of speaking that sounds a little jarring and makes him stand out amidst a cast clearly more ‘smooth talking’ characters/voice actors. Honestly there hasn’t been a single line of voice dialogue that I’ve encountered that I found out of place or amateur, or anyone near the low lows of JRP/Zelda BOTW.
Companion characterisation
Beyond this, I think companion characterisation is a little weaker than we saw in the OT, but nor do I think it problematic. We grew attached to these people over a span of hundreds of hours of play across multiple games. Nothing I’ve seen in the characters so far makes me IMMEDIATELY love them like I did Wrex, but neither does it make me hate them to the point where I can’t expect to ever form a connection with them.
Combat
I think his comments on combat being ‘fine’ are a little under-cooked. I find it some of the best third person combat I’ve played, and I cover The Division as my main game (which despite its RPG flaws, actually has some excellent 3rd person combat). Complaints about AI team-mate performance are well and truly unfair and out of context. I’ve had zero issue with them thus far, and I’ve found they actually perform quite well.
UI
There are legitimate complaints about UI. Loading screens between parts of the nexus kind of suck (trams instead of elevators) and the whole ‘planet scanning’ thing really should not have returned, especially in its current form. It is almost identical to that of the OT, only with longer loading screens as you move between planets. Menus are cumbersome, but not so much so that they disrupt the experience.
Open World Elements
As for the ‘open world’ elements, yes there is fetch/scan quest stuff which isn’t great, but you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, so that really doesn’t bother me. I do think the reliance on scanning items in the battlefield (to collect resources) is actually quite intrusive since you’ll spend way, way too much time scanning things just in-case you’ve missed something. It slows things down problematically.
New Dialogue System
For me, the biggest short-coming that his preview didn’t mention were changes to the dialogue system. Where the Paragon/Renegade options allowed us to define an ‘identity’ for our Shepard along the good and bad axis, this new system replaces it with 4 different, but ultimately indistinguishable axis. Honestly most of the dialogue options all feel like variations on the same sentiment, and there’s almost no opportunity to be the ‘bad guy/girl’. Where the paragon system produced some of the most truly AMAZING dialogue moments in the history of gaming, I’m yet to encounter a dialogue option that has so much as raised an eyebrow on my part. I am honestly extremely interested to hear how people find this new system, as I expect some will praise it as ‘realistic nuance’ while others (like myself) declare it overly-ambiguous to the point of being vacuous.
What's REALLY good about it
What the RPS preview DOESN’T talk about is how good the RPG (skills systems) now are and the diversity of skill options, and how you can move between them with ease using profiles. It doesn’t praise the visuals (which are at certain times incredibly stunning). It doesn’t praise the design aesthetic of the weapons, gear, Nomad, Tempest, Nexus or vaults, which are all spectacular. And more than anything else, I think it creates an unfair impression that this just isn’t a good game…..which isn’t true. It is a good game- at times a great game- and I suspect that the broader coverage you see will likely echo my sentiment. There are many, many things you can nit-pick at if you wanted to, but if you’re up for another Mass Effect adventure then I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to enjoy this at least a little bit, and perhaps even a lot if the game expands on what I’ve already seen, and brings out the great character and story moments we hope for.
TL;DR Nothing is as bad as he says it is. If you like Mass Effect, you’ll probably like this game. If you want to find reasons not to like it, there are a few of those too.
Edit: since this has gone a little crazy, I summarised this in a video with some gameplay to demonstrate the points that I make: https://youtu.be/bRA-137jF-4 Hope it helps.
Hi all,
Skill Up here- I just put up the character customisation video earlier today (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41_ExZBIqqU), and I returned to the sub today to see the RPS preview which is pretty scathing to say the least. I wanted to provide a different perspective that directly responds to some of the points he makes.
First of all- no disrespect whatsoever to the previewer for his comments. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I mean no ill-will when offering my own in response.
As background, I think his preview can be summarised by this quote from it:
“The first few hours of Andromeda are a gruesome trudge through the most trite bilge of the previous three games, smeared out in a setting that’s horribly familiar, burdened with some outstandingly awful writing, buried beneath a UI that appears to have been designed to infuriate in every possible way.”
So- what do I think?
OT Baggage
I am unsure what he is referring to when he mentions ‘trite bilge of the previous three games’ as this is a vague statement. If he’s referring to some generic side-quests or character back stories, then sure, there’s some of that. If he’s referring to revisiting older world building stories like the genophage, or Solarian scientific prowess, or Krogan clan structure, then sure- you’ll get some of that too, but only because it’s necessary to orient new players to the legacy elements of the world, and perhaps to remind returning players as well.
The quality of the writing
Overall, I haven’t found the writing nearly as innocuous as he has, and I am someone that really appreciates good writing and storytelling in games. To be fair, Bioware hasn’t been strong in moment-to-moment writing, but they’ve always excelled in world- building. The character dialogue ranges from being passable to good, while side- mission stories/dialogues are definitely on the generic side (so far). But that’s going to be the case in any game- even the mighty Witcher 3 which had some of the best side-quest dialogue/narrative of any game in recent memory. I do think though that solid world-building foundations have been set up that provide a good canvas for future story-telling. It perhaps isn’t as ambitious as it could have been as there is a lot of OT baggage, but that was the direction Bioware took and we have to accept that.
Voice acting
I think complaints about voice acting are very over-blown. Liam’s character in particular is actually really WELL voice acted in my view, as he has a cheeky, laconic charm and a simplicity of speaking that sounds a little jarring and makes him stand out amidst a cast clearly more ‘smooth talking’ characters/voice actors. Honestly there hasn’t been a single line of voice dialogue that I’ve encountered that I found out of place or amateur, or anyone near the low lows of JRP/Zelda BOTW.
Companion characterisation
Beyond this, I think companion characterisation is a little weaker than we saw in the OT, but nor do I think it problematic. We grew attached to these people over a span of hundreds of hours of play across multiple games. Nothing I’ve seen in the characters so far makes me IMMEDIATELY love them like I did Wrex, but neither does it make me hate them to the point where I can’t expect to ever form a connection with them.
Combat
I think his comments on combat being ‘fine’ are a little under-cooked. I find it some of the best third person combat I’ve played, and I cover The Division as my main game (which despite its RPG flaws, actually has some excellent 3rd person combat). Complaints about AI team-mate performance are well and truly unfair and out of context. I’ve had zero issue with them thus far, and I’ve found they actually perform quite well.
UI
There are legitimate complaints about UI. Loading screens between parts of the nexus kind of suck (trams instead of elevators) and the whole ‘planet scanning’ thing really should not have returned, especially in its current form. It is almost identical to that of the OT, only with longer loading screens as you move between planets. Menus are cumbersome, but not so much so that they disrupt the experience.
Open World Elements
As for the ‘open world’ elements, yes there is fetch/scan quest stuff which isn’t great, but you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to, so that really doesn’t bother me. I do think the reliance on scanning items in the battlefield (to collect resources) is actually quite intrusive since you’ll spend way, way too much time scanning things just in-case you’ve missed something. It slows things down problematically.
New Dialogue System
For me, the biggest short-coming that his preview didn’t mention were changes to the dialogue system. Where the Paragon/Renegade options allowed us to define an ‘identity’ for our Shepard along the good and bad axis, this new system replaces it with 4 different, but ultimately indistinguishable axis. Honestly most of the dialogue options all feel like variations on the same sentiment, and there’s almost no opportunity to be the ‘bad guy/girl’. Where the paragon system produced some of the most truly AMAZING dialogue moments in the history of gaming, I’m yet to encounter a dialogue option that has so much as raised an eyebrow on my part. I am honestly extremely interested to hear how people find this new system, as I expect some will praise it as ‘realistic nuance’ while others (like myself) declare it overly-ambiguous to the point of being vacuous.
What's REALLY good about it
What the RPS preview DOESN’T talk about is how good the RPG (skills systems) now are and the diversity of skill options, and how you can move between them with ease using profiles. It doesn’t praise the visuals (which are at certain times incredibly stunning). It doesn’t praise the design aesthetic of the weapons, gear, Nomad, Tempest, Nexus or vaults, which are all spectacular. And more than anything else, I think it creates an unfair impression that this just isn’t a good game…..which isn’t true. It is a good game- at times a great game- and I suspect that the broader coverage you see will likely echo my sentiment. There are many, many things you can nit-pick at if you wanted to, but if you’re up for another Mass Effect adventure then I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to enjoy this at least a little bit, and perhaps even a lot if the game expands on what I’ve already seen, and brings out the great character and story moments we hope for.
TL;DR Nothing is as bad as he says it is. If you like Mass Effect, you’ll probably like this game. If you want to find reasons not to like it, there are a few of those too.
salaciousbcrumb
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2012
- Messages
- 11,132
Just take a look at this shit...
Highlights include, the hideous I'm a mong and have shit my pants animation from the previous page at 1.13
Emotional voice acting and animation, plus great dialogue choices. at 1.50.... "Ryder your dad's dead."... "Meh, I'll get over it," or "Fuck the old bastard." All the while grinning like a psycho retard.
All the Kett at 6.00 apart from the main villian have exactly the same model, but it appears that all the other races do as well.
15.10 Faggot/Trans Krogan
That's about as much as I could take...
...Overall apart from the awful facial animations and voice acting, the body animations are appaling, they look like the animators are playing with barbie dolls, as the arms are always set in those weird doll like positions and they seem to jig on the spot during conversations like they need a piss, just so they aren't stood around like shop dummies. Also I've noticed that the models in many scenes actually react before something happens, such as when someone talks to them they'll turn towards them before they are addressed, just like in some badly staged school play.
Other than that, the poor uninteresting textures and background, the repeated use of assets and the exact same models, there were several slight graphical glitches and pop ins.
EDIT just to remind everyone this is what you will need to get you 30fps...
Mass Effect: Andromeda Recommended System Requirements For 1920x1080
Jesus I can play Witcher 3 with 8 gig of ram, a 1050 and a 10+ year old mid range processor on 1920x1080 on highish settings and still get 40-60FPS. Those recommendations for this pile of garbage are simply ludicrous.
Highlights include, the hideous I'm a mong and have shit my pants animation from the previous page at 1.13
Emotional voice acting and animation, plus great dialogue choices. at 1.50.... "Ryder your dad's dead."... "Meh, I'll get over it," or "Fuck the old bastard." All the while grinning like a psycho retard.
All the Kett at 6.00 apart from the main villian have exactly the same model, but it appears that all the other races do as well.
15.10 Faggot/Trans Krogan
That's about as much as I could take...
...Overall apart from the awful facial animations and voice acting, the body animations are appaling, they look like the animators are playing with barbie dolls, as the arms are always set in those weird doll like positions and they seem to jig on the spot during conversations like they need a piss, just so they aren't stood around like shop dummies. Also I've noticed that the models in many scenes actually react before something happens, such as when someone talks to them they'll turn towards them before they are addressed, just like in some badly staged school play.
Other than that, the poor uninteresting textures and background, the repeated use of assets and the exact same models, there were several slight graphical glitches and pop ins.
EDIT just to remind everyone this is what you will need to get you 30fps...
Mass Effect: Andromeda Recommended System Requirements For 1920x1080
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4790 or AMD FX 8350
- GPU: GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, or GeForce GTX 970
- RAM: 16GB
- OS: Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 (64-bit versions)
- HDD: 55GB free space
- DirectX: Version 11
Jesus I can play Witcher 3 with 8 gig of ram, a 1050 and a 10+ year old mid range processor on 1920x1080 on highish settings and still get 40-60FPS. Those recommendations for this pile of garbage are simply ludicrous.
Last edited:
Well, this game already delivered even without a release.
I cannot imagine the fun we'll have after release date.
Edit: Also this will probably be the final nail to Beaware's coffin.
I cannot imagine the fun we'll have after release date.
Edit: Also this will probably be the final nail to Beaware's coffin.
salaciousbcrumb
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2012
- Messages
- 11,132
Check out dem background textures...
EDIT Additional cutting edge textures, check out the cupards of the future!!! It looks like they've subcontracted out the backgrounds to a 23year old Kitchen planner from the local Home Depot.
REMINDER
I7 4790
GTX 1060 3GB
16GB RAM
30FPS!!!!
EDIT Additional cutting edge textures, check out the cupards of the future!!! It looks like they've subcontracted out the backgrounds to a 23year old Kitchen planner from the local Home Depot.
REMINDER
I7 4790
GTX 1060 3GB
16GB RAM
30FPS!!!!
Last edited:
Black
Arcane
- Joined
- May 8, 2007
- Messages
- 1,873,073
Should you really be talking shit about your next big game to LP?
moon knight
Matt7895's alt
This is Oblivion all over again.
Woohoo! We have a new "Have you come seeking the light!" moment!
sullynathan
Arcane
salaciousbcrumb
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2012
- Messages
- 11,132
It's just fucking stupid. Everything in the ME universe has been computerised in every game, your codex, ship log, even the shops you go to and now they have to half fill pointless shelves that they have no need for with 10year old clip art, that looks like it's been swiped from an old football manager game.
People don't even use those square file folders anymore now, but the Salarians could only bring 15'000 of their people for the 600 year trip to Andromeda as the rest of the hold was filled with important tax returns.
Jarmaro
Liturgist
I've watched this and I didn't see any major bugs, everything looks good from technical point (well, game as it is. Facial animations are still bad, although voice acting doesn't sound bad, rather average). If you wanna watch something without annoying commentary, you can watch:
Ezeekiel
Liturgist
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2016
- Messages
- 1,783
So... This is going to be the Fallout 3/4 of the ME franchise, but even worse basically?
Great. Just engaging autopilot and making a bog-standard ME2/3 clone would have been an improvement over this, it seems.
Really curious why RPS is stabbing them in the back though. There's gotta be a story there, they even hyped all those sjw indie techdemos like sunset or whatever it was called. Doubled down on their bs all the time. Why change now?
Love how Walker thinks A.I. doing nothing but popping in and out of cover is how it is in all games ever though. Ever = 2007 onwards?
Great. Just engaging autopilot and making a bog-standard ME2/3 clone would have been an improvement over this, it seems.
Really curious why RPS is stabbing them in the back though. There's gotta be a story there, they even hyped all those sjw indie techdemos like sunset or whatever it was called. Doubled down on their bs all the time. Why change now?
Love how Walker thinks A.I. doing nothing but popping in and out of cover is how it is in all games ever though. Ever = 2007 onwards?
The Dutch Ghost
Arbiter
- Joined
- May 26, 2016
- Messages
- 685
Well so far the story telling has been rather bland. I skipped over most of it, only watching a few parts.
- The journey to Andromeda did not go as planned and now the mission is at risk. How unexpected (he said sarcastically)
- The first living person you meet on the nexus acts like a zombie when he first sees you, not at all surprised of suddenly seeing people he has never seen before emerging from an airlock. Either this guy is completely jaded or emotionally dead, just going through the moves as it were when you tell him you are from an ark
(also conveniently, the sensors of the station are in questionable state thus its arrival was seen as a glitch, with as result that the developers don't have to do a more emotional arrival sequence, with dozens of station residents perhaps contacting your ship, surprised to see more survivors, and the player being greeted by a large group of people. Reminds me of when in ME3 I brought a genuine living Promethean with me and no one barely seemed interested, not loads of scholars, scientists, and politicians that wanted to meet it)
- So much for being a nobody, just some scout on the ship, almost everyone calls you by your job title and is impressed by it.
- The journey to Andromeda did not go as planned and now the mission is at risk. How unexpected (he said sarcastically)
- The first living person you meet on the nexus acts like a zombie when he first sees you, not at all surprised of suddenly seeing people he has never seen before emerging from an airlock. Either this guy is completely jaded or emotionally dead, just going through the moves as it were when you tell him you are from an ark
(also conveniently, the sensors of the station are in questionable state thus its arrival was seen as a glitch, with as result that the developers don't have to do a more emotional arrival sequence, with dozens of station residents perhaps contacting your ship, surprised to see more survivors, and the player being greeted by a large group of people. Reminds me of when in ME3 I brought a genuine living Promethean with me and no one barely seemed interested, not loads of scholars, scientists, and politicians that wanted to meet it)
- So much for being a nobody, just some scout on the ship, almost everyone calls you by your job title and is impressed by it.
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