Mass Effect: Andromeda

degrassinoel

i reckon pre-reaper invasion myself, although probably more because of Ryder being in N7, and that other milky way races will be in andromeda - A Krogan was shown in one of the unofficial videos and there was official word that "familiar races" would be in the game. Could still go either way, but i'm hoping pre-invasion launch to keep the ME3 endings cannon and it could possibly have been any of the three without ****ing up the universe too much.

disclaimer - before anyone says it, it's an old argument -

i preferred "kill the reapers" over synthesis, as synthesis pretty much changed the entire galaxy and

everyone lived happily ever after, which was fairly unrealistic even for sci-fi to me.

Gbear

New shtuff:

It looks fine, but ME has never been about the graphics really.

The characters' faces look pretty poor in particular.

It had the creaking corpse of Unreal 3 running the previous few games so maybe with a newer engine you would've hoped for night and day improvements, but for this the art style is more important.

Proper trailer coming in November.

For me the real determinants for quality will be improvements in how you get around the place (remove the stupid Omni-button or at least make it work more smoothly), the quality of the net-code for multiplayer, the sound and feel of the powers and weapons, the different playstyles available.

I don't want to see quasi-mmo bull****. MMO's are ****. Let them die.

Pickpocket

Really like the art design so far.

Maximus Alexander

Looks like more Mass Effect, which is what I want.

degrassinoel

meh, i hope that's just what it's supposed to be, a tech demo.
I have an awful feeling the game is gonna be dreadful and seeing this video doesn't make me feel any different - ooh look at our 4K on consoles isn't it purty? - yeah it looks nice, but is it going to have a decent story, will it be an action shooter or an rpg? will the missions be tedious timesinks like dragon age inquisition?

Also, i'm wondering if the camera movement was scripted or if it was actually some guy arsing about with a controller.

it did look pretty.

The faces were the usual bioware ****e.

Please god don't let them make a pigs eye of the multiplayer again!
They got it just right in ME3 and bollocksed it up again in DA:I

N7 day for more info.. cutting it short for an early '17 release date, i'm guessing it's being pushed back til Q2 or even 3

That's all the pessimism i can muster for this

sheep?

4K for immersion? Gimme a coherent, well performed, and well thought out story for that please.

Also speaking of performance.....was that Nolan North doing the Male lead? I mean for CHRIST's sake. He's great, but surely there are other male voice actors out there? It's getting to the point where having him in a role is detracting from the character. It might be FemRyder for me.

Which just sounds filthy...

Anyway, I don't want to be too negative, so looking forward to N7!

Varik

From playing BF1 on the same engine, terrane is going to be insanely deformable. On BF1 it has to be limited but after a game especially on the more focused corridor/channeled rush mode there can be huge craters. Building destruction is more limited and as you'd expect. but again it'll be more crafted in a single player game.

Also seen some sites compare it's gameplay to destiny, we barely saw any gameplay and it wasn't remotely like destiny.

Zillah

Gbear wrote: »

Plant scanning and "each of these could be a vault on another world" gave me No Man's Sky flashbacks. Getting awful mmo open-world vibes from it still.

Gbear

Zillah wrote: »

Plant scanning and "each of these could be a vault on another world" gave me No Man's Sky flashbacks. Getting awful mmo open-world vibes from it still.

Open world is fine so long as you put things in it.

If you have the ability to change the universe around you so that decisions are meaningful and there's sufficient variation in level design, tilesets and enemies then having to complete similar objectives shouldn't be a problem.

Many would take the Witcher 3 as the gold standard for RPGs so I'll probably refer back to it a bit here; if you take the Witcher Gear missions - there was lots of variation (just finding stuff, puzzles, tough monsters, swarms of easy monsters, happening upon it while doing other things) and it gave a tangible reward that made you want to go out and do more.

Then there were 100's of other side quests of all sorts but crucially, you didn't in any way need to do them all. They didn't gate progress and, particularly with things like recipes, there were often more than one way to find the stuff.
I love that idea - make twice or 3 times as many sidequests as you "need", to the point where only lunatics would try to 100% it in one go and then you can experience the game differently each time.
The only trick they missed was finding a way to declutter the map so that you don't feel the need to do missions just so you can see where you're going.


In the Witcher the landscape was breathtaking and you could do a few tricks in combat but that's absolutely nothing in comparison to a fully realised alien environments and 6 completely distinct classes, each with different combat styles available to them.
In terms of gameplay ME should be setting the bar for action RPGs, as I think ME3 did (level design wasn't that great but particularly in refining the game for MP, they absolutely nailed combat).

I'd be bitterly disappointed if they don't get that right. It's way easier to sort out shooting with a touch of melee combat than the other way around so I'm not too concerned about comparisons with DA.
What I'd expect is procedurally generated worlds that appear to have the production values of ME2 and ME3 side missions but have the openness of the original's.

I'd be pretty pessimistic about it matching the world building, writing and attention to detail of something like the Witcher and truthfully I'm not that worried about that element.
For me it's better that gameplay carries story than the other way around - certainly in a 60 hour game.

Icyseanfitz

meh, i used to be a diehard blackisle/bioware fan, would have bought anything they released. Now il wait and see, seems like what made bioware bioware has disappeared into the all consuming pit of EA. When did they ever focus on pretty graphics? there games have always been story/character driven rpgs, get back to that and il be back, not this DA:I ****e

ERG89

Couldn't take that "gameplay" too serious, seemed to just be there as a tech demo. Why weren't the squad mates shown bar the cut scene?
Very sceptical of this game as so little is known & even less has been shown for something so ambitious, out a short while after Horizon Zero Dawn which has been shown for a year I'm surprised we haven't been given more details.
Ryder is going to be the protagonist. Whether you choose the man or woman I think the other will be your sibling. You are searching for a new place to colonise. I can't think of much else

Icyseanfitz

either way we know this game and its sequels will come down to green red or blue haha

AbusesToilets

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

either way we know this game and its sequels will come down to green red or blue haha

I chose the do nothing option myself. **** them trying to force a bull**** scenario on me.

ERG89

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

either way we know this game and its sequels will come down to green red or blue haha

I'd be astonished if we don't hear about a season pass soon.

Icyseanfitz

ERG89 wrote: »

I'd be astonished if we don't hear about a season pass soon.

oh yeah that will for sure be a ****show, probably some micro-transactions thrown in as well, oh god i miss old bioware (jade empire, KOTR1, ME1)

Kiith

I'll almost certainly buy this. While not without it's faults, the ME trilogy is one of my favourite gaming experiences, and Bioware do a very good job with their world building and some of their characters. And I also really enjoyed DA:I, so i don't mind it being a better version of that.

K.O.Kiki

ERG89 wrote: »

I'd be astonished if we don't hear about a season pass soon.

As much as I love Mass Effect (and I absolutely LOVE the series) I'm going to follow best practice for ME:A.

• NO PRE-ORDERS
• NO SEASON'S PASS

Captain Chaos

There will be the usual N7 Editions with day one DLC side missions and such... Just not doing that lark anymore myself.

pixelburp

It'll get no pre-orders or season pass from me, and that's speaking as someone who 'til now has been an unapologetic fanboy of the Mass Effect universe and thinks it up there with Trek and other luminaries of space opera. These gouging techniques won't disappear until consumers apply some amount of discretion or self-control.

Way too early to tell based on that footage; it made no bones about being a tech demo so it's impossible to tell how much / little of the previous games - and what components - are making it into this one.

Mitch Connor

I loved near every minute of the trilogy so I'll be preodering anything they offer. I can't wait.

Varik

DLC from Bioware is usually worth it, unless they make it awkward with bioware point again (which they won't this time and can't on console).

After ME3 getting it on console this time.

Gbear

Varik wrote: »

DLC from Bioware is usually worth it, unless they make it awkward with bioware point again (which they won't this time and can't on console).

After ME3 getting it on console this time.

Why?

Varik

Gbear wrote: »

Why?

DLC on PC for ME3 has never been reduced, it's been full price since launch and you needed biopoints to buy it.

Gbear

Varik wrote: »

DLC on PC for ME3 has never been reduced, it's been full price since launch and you needed biopoints to buy it.

Well if they don't have them for Andromada it won't be a problem.
Also, I'd imagine it'll be cheaper on PC anyway.

Gbear

Speak of the Devil.

Mass Effect DLC is on sale.
It's only 8 years later or whatever...

They must have heard you Varik.:pac:

Varik

Gbear wrote: »

Speak of the Devil.

Mass Effect DLC is on sale.
It's only 8 years later or whatever...

Bit of messing to get it as it only lets you use the discount when buying the points for the DLC at the same time but not when buying points outright.

Got 960 sitting in my account, so to buy the last 2 DLC 1200 each I need another 1440 (1200*2 - 960) so I buy 1600 discounted to €10 and have 160 points left over for some weapon/skin/fluff pack for 160.

No real discount for the points by amount 1600 cost the same per point as the 400 pack, and can't get any amount that leaves me with 0.

Gbear wrote: »

They must have heard you Varik.:pac:

Doubt it and even tried to get a refund for the points I still had recently, you get a bit of the hate from that reddit thread.

For all my bitching over the years about biopoints, not sure I want to spend €10 on it now for the last 2.

Kiith

They are really bad at discounting DLC. DA: Inquistion DLC was more expensive on their own than if you bought the complete edition, which was just a slap in the face to anyone who actually bought the game at release.

Varik

Kiith wrote: »

They are really bad at discounting DLC. DA: Inquistion DLC was more expensive on their own than if you bought the complete edition, which was just a slap in the face to anyone who actually bought the game at release.

Thankfully the complete edition DLC was just a code, bought that and traded in the game then and there. All the DLC cost about €10 or less. First game I've traded in since skyrim (had 2 as sharing is not caring).

Zero-Cool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPkv7DmeM1A

Varik

Looks odd, when was all that meant to be happening.

Could this intergalactic trip be before ME3/2, humans on the up and up but no reaper invasion yet?