Mass Effect: Andromeda

Mitch Connor

CatInABox wrote: »

In fairness, it's a trailer of what should be a 20+ hour game, there's no way to have any characters personality come across in such a short time, particularly when there's no history with the characters.

For comparison, go all the way back to the original Mass Effect trailer:

If I didn't know those characters from pouring hours into the series, I'd say that they were as generic as the ones in the latest trailer.

Exactly this.

Characters seeming generic and care free - its a trailer for a game that will ( we should be able to assume) seem serious growth in the characters. The main character could be care free at the start of the game but gradually become more focused and serious as the fate of humanity and the andromeda project rests on their shoulders - as they become the pathfinder responsible for everyone; something they are not at the opening of the game (but likely are by the time of that clip), something they are not expecting to be. Bioware have made a point of saying Ryder is basically a blank slate at the start of this game, they are not the hero soldier Shepherd was, they don't have the history Sherperd had, they are far younger and as such don't have the same experience or clout Shepherd had.

Mass Effect is also a game that allows some freedom in how people speak and act - this care free attitude could be the personality of the person who was playing the character at the time, maybe your Ryder won't say the same thing.

I think a large part of the problem with the characters in this game, at this time, from the trailer, is that they are not the ME Trilogy characters. These ones have had no time as of yet to become that. Maybe, with actual play time, we will have characters like Mordin on our hands. Bioware have also made clear that the relationships with all squad mates are going to be deeper in this than in ME, for each one it will be beyond what it was for the romance options in the trilogy - so we will see each of these characters fleshed out loads and their bond the Ryder grown through the game.

Also, maybe I am just being way too forgiving to this game/trailer because I fecking love ME and can't wait for this - they could have shown us nothing, ever, and I'd still have been all over this game. It could turn out rubbish but I wouldn't think you can call it either way from a trailer - especially when we have no emotional investment in the characters at this point.

Cina

I've always found trailers the best way to judge whether a film or game will be good.

Michael Bay knows what's up.

Zero-Cool

New brief up for andromeda initiative if anyone is tracking progress.

https://www.masseffect.com/en-gb/andromeda-initiative/training-hub/pathfinder-and-team

Zillah

CatInABox wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_6ZMr2bMco

If I didn't know those characters from pouring hours into the series, I'd say that they were as generic as the ones in the latest trailer.

lol, I had forgotten they gave Ashley "The Girl" Williams pink power armour. That series did improve in some ways over time.

Mitch Connor

That one presenting the new vid... she's gonna be a villain imo, despite the sex scene with male Ryder.

She is second in command, and next in line to be pathfinder but doesn't become the pathfinder - leaving it to one of two player characters that seem way under-qualified for the role? She's gonna be a baddie I reckon. I'm gonna throw out a random speculation that she has Cerberus links cause I refuse to believe Cerberus wouldn't be interested in getting their claws into this project.

Zero-Cool

Yupp, also, she has the same surname as the illusive man

Cora Harper
Jack Harper

Just interesting how she worked with Asari's and became a Biotic unless she's a spy for Cerburus or could just turn out to be one of the good guys. Has to have some kind of relation to the Illusive Man though.

Zero-Cool

Yupp, Cora Harper, just happens to have the same surname as the Illusive Man Jack Harper

Kiith

She's actually a Reaper, and is slowly indoctrinating the entire crew. Sheppard is also the ships AI, and the Archon is Liara and Wrex's kid.

Ah Mass Effect conspiracy theories...how i've missed you :P

Zillah

Kiith wrote: »

She's actually a Reaper, and is slowly indoctrinating the entire crew.

Oh shit not this again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWhfMsA3A_k

Varik

Beta registration is closed so those should be going out soon

noodler

Kiith wrote: »

She's actually a Reaper, and is slowly indoctrinating the entire crew. Sheppard is also the ships AI, and the Archon is Liara and Wrex's kid.

Ah Mass Effect conspiracy theories...how i've missed you :P

Best theory ever

Zero-Cool

Some new info, sounding really good. I read the other day devs saying witcher 3 inspired the sidequests. Great in theory, a bit harder to pull off though.

* There are 'several highly advanced alien races' we'll meet in Andromeda

* Barrier can now deflect projectiles at foes

* Powers have individual cooldowns

* Blades confirmed as a craftable melee weapon (we already knew hammers)

* After a couple of encounters with the Kett, you'll be able to craft some of their technology (they use plasma guns)

* Crafting is entirely optional, not important to the story

* Based upon your dialogue choices, there can be tensions in the team

* You see planets and stars fly by from the Tempest's bridge, all windows on the ship give a view of your current location on the galaxy map

* 'Interrupts' are not paragon/renegade, but 'disarm' for example (it's a strategic choice, not a moral)

* You'll be able to understand the Kett motivations, they're more nuanced as an enemy

* There's a whole separate storyline besides the Kett

* The Kett were originally designed to be completely nude, but it was awkward in cutscenes

* All squad members have a loyalty mission (they seem to be 'a string of objectives' rather than one single mission)

* The loyalty missions will explain the squad members' motivation for leaving the Milky Way

* Michael Gamble: 'I definitely wouldn't call Andromeda an open-world game.We like to use the term exploration-based game. Sometimes that happens in open spaces, but not always. You can cruise around some of these planets in the Nomad, but it's not the traditional sandbox-type game.'

* You don't have to fuel the Tempest

* Side quests will be 'more varied and interesting than ever', says BioWare

* Active abilities/powers (like Overload, etc.) have an alternate fire mode

* There is no level cap, you can keep leveling until you run out of skills to put points into

* 5 difficulty levels, including narrative (very easy, just the story)

* Nomad's top speed is 130+ km/h

* Tempest top speed is 13 light years per day

* You can upgrade the omnitool (the blade)

K.O.Kiki

Starting to get into spoilers territory, I'm going to unsubscribe from this thread (and the subreddit) to keep myself fresh for the game

Gbear

This is looking good, however, one thing I've noticed, and it feels like I must be wrong because it's an obviously terrible idea, is that you're limited to 3 skills in your quickbar.

Things that were still missing from ME3 seems to be getting added to the combat (verticality being a big one) and they seem to have refined all the good moves they already made (more mobility more customisation along the lines of multiplayer, more environmental interaction).

It's going to be hard for this to be an outright bad game.

Temptamperu

you know I love Mass Effect. Ive played the original trilogy many times but I grow tired of the format. I think i'll give this a miss until the price comes way down.

Kirby

What format? This isnt like the jump from Fifa 16 to Fifa 17. It's a new game, on a new engine, new combat, with a new story and new characters.

Not sure I get what you mean to be honest.

Kiith

I think it looks excellent, and it's definitely a day 1 for me.

Temptamperu

Kirby wrote: »

What format? This isnt like the jump from Fifa 16 to Fifa 17. It's a new game, on a new engine, new combat, with a new story and new characters.

Not sure I get what you mean to be honest.

It looks just like the other games bar the jumping around and movement. Monsters with energy bars and critical hit points. Ive done it all already and am tired of the series.
Sorry for offending your game you haven't played yet.

Kirby

Why would I be offended? The game could be great or it could be terrible. Its hard to know. But thats a different issue.

I just dont quite follow the thought proccess that this follows a format. Even ME1 and 2 were quite different games from a gameplay perspective. One had heavy emphasis on vehicle combat, one didnt. One used RPG based shooting, one didn't. And they were sequels. This one is going to be even more different even by glancing at some trailers.

I can think of loads of reasons why somebody might not want to play this.....but "Its just too similar to everything else out there!" definitely isn't one of them.

YouSavedMyLife

They really improved the combat gameplay just like how Fallout 4 improved the gameplay. Calling it now, the RPG part of the game is gonna suffer. Ill still probably buy it :rolleyes:

Icyseanfitz

That character face though

J. Marston

Yeah, what is with the facial animations? FemShep (FemRyder?) has the weirdest smile I've seen in a game.

Sephiroth_dude

Do ye think the game will be open world in the same way as say dragon age Inquisition only with planets?

Zero-Cool

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Do ye think the game will be open world in the same way vain as say dragon age Inquisition only with planets?

Nope, from a dev a few days ago

“I definitely wouldn’t call Andromeda an open-world game,” Gamble said. “We like to use the term ‘exploration-based game’. You still have the concept of tight story deliverance and all the great things you come to expect with Mass Effect. The layer on top of that is a layer of exploration. Sometimes that happens in open spaces, but not always. You can cruise around some of these planets in the Nomad, but it’s not the traditional sandbox-type game.”

degrassinoel

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

Do ye think the game will be open world in the same way vain as say dragon age Inquisition only with planets?

apparently it wont, but it's still got lots to explore so they say..

tbh the blurb for this game is crap so far, i'm gonna buy it anyway but purely because i'm not playing anything else worthwhile.
I'm really not expecting it to have anywhere near as good a storyline as the trilogy.

The fact that they've been promoting the combat which nearly identical to ME3's (not a bad thing) - ignoring the rubber face ryder awful animation concerns and literally given no details on how this is an RPG, makes me wonder if they've just made an ARPG instead. And it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case.

Gbear

degrassinoel wrote: »

apparently it wont, but it's still got lots to explore so they say..

tbh the blurb for this game is crap so far, i'm gonna buy it anyway but purely because i'm not playing anything else worthwhile.
I'm really not expecting it to have anywhere near as good a storyline as the trilogy.

The fact that they've been promoting the combat which nearly identical to ME3's (not a bad thing) - ignoring the rubber face ryder awful animation concerns and literally given no details on how this is an RPG, makes me wonder if they've just made an ARPG instead. And it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case.

While a few things were lost from ME1 going into the sequels, by and large, at every level, I think improvements were made, and I think that includes RPG-ness.

You had a few decent convos with Wrex, Vigil and Sovereign but between the worse VO work, fairly uninteresting emotional climaxes like Virmire (Kaiden is a potato, Ash is space racist - who cares if they die) and pretty but lifeless environments, the game doesn't have as much RPG cred as it might have felt at the time.
I think it's dated in that respect as much as it is mechanically.

The later games of course benefited from building on the previous characters and world building, and this mostly won't have that, but the delivery got progressively better from game to game and I'd hope that continues.

As with the reintroduction of weapon mods in 3, I think more RPGy things are being brought back here, like the exploration, and with the expected refinements to the rpg system (stupid 3-power limit notwithstanding), so I can't see how this'll be any worse an RPG experience than before.

My only other concern would be how they're going to handle classes when you have access to all the powers. A huge failing of Diablo 3 as an RPG is how little your levelling matters and how generic your character feels because he has had no set path.
Some limitations are a good thing - they push you to try different kinds of gameplay.
That is, of course, a reason to not completely write off only having 3 skills.
It could lead you to finding sets of skills leading to more focused and rewarding gameplay.

I doubt that's the reason why it was implemented though - that'd be down to aiming at console controls with fewer shortcuts and an unwillingness to have either more or harder enemies to compensate for giving you more options in attack with the ability-centered cooldowns.

degrassinoel

Funny ye should mention Diablo3, i was thinking the same thing after watching the video myself.

I'd like to be able to play this (Andromeda) like i played Tyranny, my own bloody way - i can heal myself and my group and tank and lob fire spells and set everything on fire all while using a bow (replace bow with black widow). Totally completely and utterly over powered, and i'd make it that way by working at it for a while, doing the quests and wandering about exploring and generally having fun getting there.

That.. Should be the same theory in practice for any RPG.

And i get why it isnt most of the time, it needs to be balanced for multiplayer or everyone would have the same spec..

D3 is just done wrong. You literally have to have specific gear and skills to get anywhere in endgame, if you choose your own way, you're stuck in the scrubleagues. I know i know, it's an ARPG. But still, there it is. Do it our way or don't get any enjoyment from the game.

Does an RPG have to be like that?
No.
A good RPG lets you choose your path or at the very least creates the illusion that you're making choices. It's all in the storytelling-respect specifically.

What's the best place to preorder this?

Gbear

You can pre-order on origin. Dunno is it the best place for it.


I want all the crap that comes with the super duper deluxe edition max 360 no-scope 2000 and I'm fairly sure I'll get enough out of the game to make it worth the 70 bloody pounds it costs but I'm extremely leery about that sort of carry on.

I wish I could wait a day and then buy it on that basis. Just in case it's ****. Just in case.
And I don't want to encourage pre-order bull****.

Joshua J

Deleted User wrote: »

What's the best place to preorder this?

CDkeys have it for €39.09.