new trailer: https://youtu.be/pyZw_oqk7Q8

can't wait to jump back in to this universe.

The multi was really (surprisingly) good, but I got really bored by the lackluster gameplay in the second half.

To this day I still don't know how the universe fared from the Reaper invasion.

didn't get into the original because it was too dated by the time I tried it.

>didn't get into the original because it was too dated by the
>time I tried it.

same way i felt playing it because i got to it a couple years after release, but i managed to finish it.

if they re-released the trilogy on PS4 I'd likely buy it but I'm pretty damn sure they explicitly said they're not interested (which is weird because remasters are usually done by a third party not the original developer)


I played 2 maybe a year after it came out, was one some sale on PSN. I binged that shit so hard I binged it three times in a row before I was done with it. the only flaw I saw with that game was that if you play games the way I do, checking every corner and having every conversation, you'd have to be an idiot for there to be any real drama during the big team sequence.


so a big part of my 2nd and 3rd plays was a female Shephard that was hard headed trying to prove she was capable of leading these schmucks and she could verbally spar with anyone and then a male Shephard that was far too idealistic and tried to put certain characters in bigger roles than they were prepared for to build them up.


3 had some super fun gameplay from what I remember, but I'm someone who was really let down by it even before the last hour. I really did not enjoy the structure of that game and I'm also not someone who enjoys being spoonfed fan service, which to me felt like the entirety of that game's plot until it VERY much was not.


still can't explain how stoked I got when I saw that N7 breastplate tho.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

>the only flaw I saw with that
>game was that if you play games the way I do, checking every
>corner and having every conversation, you'd have to be an
>idiot for there to be any real drama during the big team
>sequence.

I dunno, as I recall there are some "incorrect roles" that you can assign that aren't apparent until you've already experienced it. Like, Thane's your primo infiltrating assassin, but if you give him the sneaking role it turns out that he gets roasted because you have to turn the heat up, thus you're supposed to send Geth-dude.

I'm that guy that can't ignore doing things even if they seem completely esoteric, and I think if you hit every corner of that game by the time it comes time to make Real Important Choices you're pretty aware of who should do what.

Man I wanna play ME2 again haha.

I looked it up real quick without reading into detail and, yea, a major reason I didn't have any issues was, since I did EVERYTHING, mined ALL THE RESOURCES, etc. there wasn't a weak point on my ship, so even if I might have made a minor mistake in who did what I was reward by having the Titanic-but-Actually-It's-The--Fucking-Titanic of spaceships.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

One of my favorite game series right here, can't explain how hyped I am for this!

Prob gonna take a few days off when this comes out because I can't be at work thinking about saving the galaxy.

>One of my favorite game series right here, can't explain how
>hyped I am for this!
>
>Prob gonna take a few days off when this comes out because I
>can't be at work thinking about saving the galaxy.

man i'm so hyped for this shit!!

i know they showed only like 2 seconds of gameplay, but man this looks like its gonna be amazing! i love the robot and alien voices they choice too. what i loved about the ME games, especially 2 and 3, was how immersed in them i was while playing.

I still hate what they did with ending(s) for 3 but these games were dope. ME2 will be my winter game this season

I quite enjoyed!

NEVER got into the multiplayer, but the singleplayer experience across all 3? Superb.

Remember I bought the first one used when I got a 360 a few months before the sequel and I still like that the best

https://youtu.be/NOIzH6UcoW4

This game can't get here fast enough.

new female "Shepard" face could use some work, though. good news is we can probably optimize it in the editor.

visually it seems up to par with modern expectations. nice environments. i bet that scanning thing is only for a few missions (is this ME: criminal origins?!) and it looks paper thin mechanically. kind of a weird thing to focus on in the debut gameplay trailer. combat still looks clunky and unresponsive (maybe animation-driven is a better term) despite them adding a layer of mobility. the vaguely open world (or at least not explictly linear) nature looks like it could facilitate immersion fairly well. exploring in the mako and then jumping out to fight enemies is pretty neat. can't really gauge how much player agency there is in the non combat sections. probably another "diamond" pattern like the previous entries in the series

i hope it's good. i think i'm just burned out on ME. i can still taste 3. yuck

Played all 3 in order for the first time before Andromeda launch. That universe is so rich. What they can do with it really seems limitless.

Watching the trailer for Andromeda, Papa Ryder and his endeavors reminds me vaguely of Cerberus and the Illusive Man.

Can't wait for March. Between Ghost Recon and this. I'll be busy.

Since I never finished 3 I was thinking of just replaying that but.... that wouldn't be doing the series justice right?

Fuck it, I've never played through as bitchy FemShep anyways, this is as good a time as any.

Although I'm kinda torn right now between blowing through ME1 and skipping most of the unexplored planets to get to ME2 or taking my time and doing all the side quests (which is how I typically play ME1)....

3 wasn't that bad at all, honestly don't understand some of the hate it got around these parts. Most of the people I know that played it really enjoyed it.

If you never played through the whole thing I'd recommend doing that.

but I remember being disappointed by the combat in the main game. I was playing a lot of multiplayer but (even on the highest difficulty) the combat in the storyline was really straightforward and disappointing. Combine that with some disappointing resolutions to storylines (although at this point I have no way to describe what was disappointing about them) and I never finished it. I'm certain I was about 75%-80% done though, so that may be an indication of how dissatisfied I was with the story.

mostly the same enemies as the previous two games, no real progression mechanically, wonky companion AI (still), major story content locked behind a paid DLC character, extreme narrative dissonance in "you have to save the galaxy NOW! or whenever you finish these 100 side quests, whatever," completion % locked behind participation in MP or excessive grinding, that fucking stupid child and the dream sequences (so trite), femshep's run animation. i'm sure there's more

not necessarily a bad game but definitely a step down from ME2. i remember the ending in particular being a major point of contention for a lot of people. fwiw it did play better than 1 and 2, but it still played like a below average 3rd person shooter

>femshep's run animation.

not sure why it suddenly became so janky. looked like a NFL Gameday 98 motion capture.

>not necessarily a bad game but definitely a step down from
>ME2.

My issue with the ending was that you spent a hundred plus hours making all these individual choices over the 3 titles that felt they had heft...shit you did in Mass Effect 1 came back to haunt you in 3....

but when the actual ending came all that shit before didn't matter...you could have played the series like a homicidal bloodthirsty maniac or like a peacenik..it was always gonna be the same shit.

Considering drastically different endings based on choices have been a mainstay since the SNES era, it felt like a cheap cop out. Plus much of the character closure felt rushed so when they introduce a new main bad guy...what could have been a 'WOAH' moment felt like, 'Who the fuck is this motherfucker'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWtEy_Snf6A

______________________________
http://i.imgur.com/Gj5Wy56.jpg

and have three still in it's wrapper but need to check to see if my saves have moved over from the 360 to the One

forgot to check so I did yesterday. Now.. I don't remember what I was doing in it lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9rwdaI8rCo

visually looks pretty good. can't say how it compares to other current games because i don't have a game system at the moment, but it looks good to me. the only thing i don't like right now is the dialogue.

I'm definitely ready. Already did my preorder and I'm ready for a preload when it's available.

i'm out.
_____________________
"WHOLESALE REUSABLE GROCERY BAGS!!"
@etfp

Did you blow through them or take your time with them?

Haven't been able to put in the hours I wanted to before Andromeda, but I'm happy I'm at least done with ME1. In the middle of picking up Jack right now, the writing for ME2 is so damn good. I kinda want to blow through it to get to ME3 (never finished it) but I love doing everything possible in ME2. I may just wait to start Andromeda.

Yeah, I'm taking my time right now, especially considering I have limited time to give to everything any week and for some reason I only ever finished 1 back on the 360 days (I can't explain it, 3 is still unopened, I'm working through 2 now, I must've got caught up in Oblivion and Skyrim or something) but I'm not going to be ready for Andromeda in time. I'm also still sharing my time getting through FFXV, I want to finish the main story at least before I move on, and giving some time to Wildlands.

I felt wrong rushing through 1, but I'd played it so many times I just had to. 2 I am getting sucked in to though, bout to see what's up with this Shadow Broker quest this week.

but I remember The Shadow Broker being one of my favorite DLC of any game, any genre

Get to try it out on the 16th

The good:

http://kotaku.com/five-hours-in-mass-effect-andromeda-is-overwhelming-1793268493

The bad:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/03/14/mass-effect-andromeda-review-opening-hours/

both writers are too hyperbolic for my taste

what worries me a little is that "CONTENT" keeps popping up in every impression. just a lot of meaningless stuff, ubi style, designed to keep you busy. i'm seeing a lot of "dragon age: inquisition in space" in regards to the style of the "CONTENT" and i see that as a huge red flag. i've also read and heard some not flattering stuff about the writing, which is probably the gravest concern

like I said a few months ago, I love the universe and Mass Effect 2 but I never played 1 and disliked 3 for several reasons so I'm not the most confident in this game to begin with let alone how they've handled the PR for it. I also just finished Horizon and have Rise of Tomb Raider on backlog plus MLB The Show comes out soon so I figure I just don't need another massive single player RPG game right now.


I know there are several other hour long videos out there right now but I feel like the Giant Bomb guys have a similar view on the series that I do (though several of them played 1) so I'll be very curious to see their stream going up later today, though I won't be able to see it until tomorrow morning.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Before ME3 I played through 1 and 2 again in full, and the drop off in quality storytelling was tangible. I tend to lose interest in games that just throw a bunch of shit at you, and because of that I've never finished an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game. I don't always play games for story but if I do, it needs to hold my attention.

I preordered, but I don't feel great about it.

THAT SAID... ME3 multiplayer was the TRUTH, I fucking loved it. I spent way more time on that than I did on the main campaign, and if ME4 improves on that formula I suspect I'll still get my money's worth.


How was DA:I? I heard it was supposed to be a return to form for the series after the abomination that was DA2 (I loved the first one). I've also heard mixed impressions on Inquisition so I ended up never pulling the trigger.

the combat seems like it will be really fun once you get a good number of skill points distributed and can jump jet around, tossing biotic and tech towards enemies at will. in the giant bomb livestream they mention that the entire game was lead by the ME3 multiplayer design team and it shows

the human characters look awful. unequivocally. non-combat animations are bad across the board. their faces look like inexpressive dolls and there is a very action figure-y quality to all of them, e.g. they look like they're made of plastic and their proportions are slightly cartoonish. i don't know if we've all been spoiled by the witcher and uncharted but it seems like a flagship game developed by one of the largest and most successful developers and publishers in the history of the medium would have way more polish in the "talking to folks" part of the game. the GB livestream archive is one of the most enjoyable pieces of content i've seen on that site in a long time simply because of jeff's reactions to how weird and unpolished the game looks

the writing seems bad and amateurish. it may be too early to call that one, as the writing could get really good later on, and/or the characters will grow on you

forbes has a good piece up about not judging the game based on first impressions since historically these games have been a bit of a slow burn. that's probably advice worth taking to heart

supposedly most of the writing team from 1 and 2 were gone from 3, and the team that handled 3's multi was wholly in charge of Andromeda.

That's... not a good look for the writing, unfortunately.

EA kinda was like "you guys have to use Frostbite" when they were used to Unreal.

I would buy it on the cheap if the combat is good. 3 had such a bad ending that the story doesn't matter to me anymore, but the shooting and powers in 2 and 3 were a lot of fun.

Its completely different story.

Kinda kills me that people focus on the ending of 3 when all the games have been pretty great. That ending doesn't define the entirety of this series.

I didn't care for the ending of 3, but it didn't take away from the experience as a whole that the series has given me.

I'm copping this one because the others have been great. Despite the animations being less than desirable it almost feels like there is an unfair internet dogpile on this game that most of us haven't even played yet, or have gotten that far into. I'll judge it myself.

>Its completely different story.
>
>Kinda kills me that people focus on the ending of 3 when all
>the games have been pretty great. That ending doesn't define
>the entirety of this series.
>
>I didn't care for the ending of 3, but it didn't take away
>from the experience as a whole that the series has given me.

I get the outrage on the fan side. For a series that was all about choices that resonate across titles to have an ending that ignored all those previous choices was directly against the spirit of the series.

But lets not fool ourselves; we act like its easy to write multiple endings wrapping up hundreds of hours of divergent story lines, lol. Them niggas chose the lazy route but its not gonna take away the hours I poured into my perfectly planned alien lesbian relationship with femshep, DAMMIT.

As long as the Mass Effects basics are there; divergent storylines, great characters, missions/storylines that had 'heft' ill deal with some clunky fire and animation. Lets not act like the OG trilogy was killing it with the playability or the graphics, lol. Shit was Grand Theft Auto level of clunkiness, but like GTA the fun factor made all that shit not matter in the end.

>As long as the Mass Effects basics are there; divergent
>storylines, great characters, missions/storylines that had
>'heft' ill deal with some clunky fire and animation. Lets
>not act like the OG trilogy was killing it with the
>playability or the graphics, lol. Shit was Grand Theft Auto
>level of clunkiness, but like GTA the fun factor made all that
>shit not matter in the end.

i think the animation "clunkiness" matters more in mass effect since you spend a significant portion of the game (~50%? more?) watching these characters act at each other. the acting and animation in the original trilogy weren't perfect by any means but they were believable. ME:A's acting and characters come off as amateurish and approaching the uncanny valley, respectively

but maybe it's something you get used to over time and the high quality of the combat and writing offset the apparent low quality of the "interacting with people" part of the gameplay

but personally, I could give two shits about facial animations. Even on my original playthroughs, I turned on captions and skipped through most of the voice acting, preferring to read it. I care more about what's being said than how it's being said.

I'm about halfway through my fourth (I think) playthrough of ME2 and I am taking my sweet time because of how strong the writing is. People bemoaned the lack of an expansive Citadel, but at least what they had there was great. Some great examples:

Salarian game salesman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl2b-W6n07Y

Gunnery Chief:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl2b-W6n07Y

And my personal favorite, Tupari Sports drinks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhSWswrXa-4

Granted, these are little throwaway comedy things but that level of care was evident throughout the game, regardless of how "important" the dialogue was. That was (mostly) tangibly missing in ME3 and (judging from some of these reviews) sadly I think that may be missing from ME:A too.

movies, books, games, etc.

It was so incredibly disappointing that it completely killed my experience with the series in general and my desire to pay attention to anything ME story-wise non-existent.

And this is coming from a guy who was invested enough in the universe that I not only bought all the games (even got ME2 twice so I could play ME3 on PS3 with my save) but I also read all the books.

I agree that it's getting dog-piled on, and for a lot of shitty reasons at times, but pretty much everything I've heard from actual games writers has also been overwhelmingly negative in regards to the story.

And also, more to my point I was making, I would play this new ME game just for the shooting once it goes on sale because I very much enjoyed where they got with the combat by 3, but me caring about that universe story-wise is over.

The 10 hour preview - It's a more limited preview as far as the story goes they stop you at a certain point. You still have time to try the multiplayer.


They ran with the Dragon Age Inquisition playbook and make the first area your tutorial, throwing all kinds of side missions at you. Word of advice, get out of the first area ASAP (it's boring as hell and things pick up once you leave the space station).

I liked the combat and the exploration in the parts of the game they allowed me to play. I played about three rounds of the multiplayer which was ok but again it was only three rounds.

We've all read the dog pile on the animations so I won't even go there.

I just don't have time for it, and I think I'll be more satisfied when it's even $45.99 on an EA publisher sale on PSN whenever they come back around in the WB, Ubisoft, Activision, EA cycle.

the story looks bland but I think I still just want that Mass Effect style, and I'm honestly fine with bland side quests if the world is cool, which I think Mass Effect can still be by default.

lastly, similar to Horizon which I thought was a bit overrated in story overall I think I could enjoy weird voice acting and conversation animation quirks in spite of itself. some of my favorite moments in the story of Horizon was when conversations just felt...wrong.

unfortunately the combat just doesn't look like as massive a change from previous Mass Effects, and if the story is as big a fall back as most are implying I just can't justify full price.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I don't expect for that to change now.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I'm missing the space cop/crime story of ME1 (I really need to replay the whole trilogy). I'm gonna stick with it, though. It feels good to be back in familiar territory.

#fffff got all types of hair styles but the devs can't patch in a basic ass fade for the galaxy's savior? All these alien races and yet not one decent barber in sight. If this game it's going to be used for $10 just to fuck up they sales out of spite.

there's like a trillion skill treees (even before you get to the fact that you can be any type of thing)

and a trillion weapons, from the beginning.

I'd appreciate some simplicity here

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

8 hours into it I would have regretted it.This game is beautiful
Yes it has bugs. Yes it has dialogue that will make you cringe ( Not as bad as The Walking Dead tho) but I would be surprised if anyone that loved the original trilogy would completely hate what this one offers. It's a Mass Effect game through and through. The combat is more exciting than it ever was, it is immense with a lot more to do. I haven't tried the multiplayer modes yet the single campaign still challenges you to make hard decisions, still gives you a sense of accomplishment when you resolve an issue and some things in this games look great.

I'm guessing this is the last battle mission (no spoilers)


My second playthrough will be my something to play while there's "no basketball or football to watch" game

My only complaint is the same thing I've complained about with most open world games now. There are too many side missions that get in the way of your main goal. I shouldn't have to stop to scan some fuckin rocks to inventory them if there is a ship out in space that's getting taken hostage and I need to save them "right away".

I miss the good ol JRPG games that had a few side quest but they fit right in with the main story and I could do them on my way to the main quest. Not hop all over the place to complete them.

With that said I'm one of the biggest Mass Effect fans. The combat in this one isn't bad at all. It's smoother than a lot of the other games so no idea why anyone would complain about it here. The story is there. It may not have been as good as the others but I got very into it. At some points I would jump up and yell because a decision I made showed me the results I wanted and then some.

It has its faults, but I think this game overall is very good and because a "meme" victim. Someone complained and everyone else ran with it and it went too far.

>My only complaint is the same thing I've complained about
>with most open world games now. There are too many side
>missions that get in the way of your main goal. I shouldn't
>have to stop to scan some fuckin rocks to inventory them if
>there is a ship out in space that's getting taken hostage and
>I need to save them "right away".
>
>I miss the good ol JRPG games that had a few side quest but
>they fit right in with the main story and I could do them on
>my way to the main quest. Not hop all over the place to
>complete them.

can't you simply ignore this stuff? are you missing out on important story beats or gear if you don't partake in these side missions? i imagine there is some desire to seek that stuff out because of the quality of the side quests in the previous entries in the series but it seems like it's a quantity over quality thing in ME:A and therefore easier to not pay attention to

>With that said I'm one of the biggest Mass Effect fans. The
>combat in this one isn't bad at all. It's smoother than a lot
>of the other games so no idea why anyone would complain about
>it here. The story is there. It may not have been as good as
>the others but I got very into it. At some points I would
>jump up and yell because a decision I made showed me the
>results I wanted and then some.

how is the writing? especially compared to ME 1 & 2. i read that the writing of ME:A is more "bro"-y and/or discount joss whedon

>It has its faults, but I think this game overall is very good
>and because a "meme" victim. Someone complained and everyone
>else ran with it and it went too far.

this is probably it. one person posted the myriad gifs, images, and videos of weird facial animations, stiltled dialogue, and what are generally considered to be unshippable bugs and everyone else on the internet kept reposting and memeing them

there are parts that are groan inducing, and whole plot lines make no sense (the exiles are...inexplicable)

the side missions for your squad, as usual, are the real highlights and I hear the ending is pretty good but I haven't finished yet

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

>there are parts that are groan inducing, and whole plot lines
>make no sense (the exiles are...inexplicable)
>
>the side missions for your squad, as usual, are the real
>highlights and I hear the ending is pretty good but I haven't
>finished yet

good to hear that the loyalty missions are up to snuff. they are indeed the best parts of these games

Bioware announced a series of patches over the next two months, so I got time to finish ME2 and 3.

One thing I'm glad they're adding is the option to skip the little animation of your ship leaving from one planet and going to another. Cute the first couple of times but unnecessary time spent watching it as you hop from planet to planet, which you do A LOT!

>can't you simply ignore this stuff? are you missing out on
>important story beats or gear if you don't partake in these
>side missions? i imagine there is some desire to seek that
>stuff out because of the quality of the side quests in the
>previous entries in the series but it seems like it's a
>quantity over quality thing in ME:A and therefore easier to
>not pay attention to

You can ignore a lot of things, but it seems like you'll get basic or worse ending if you do. Everything you do gets you points that account for something. You can build outpost on plants once the planets viability is at 40% but who wants to live on a planet with that percentage? So you grind that little shit and try to make it too 100%. Also you gain points that you can invest in certain perks. I'm trying not to spoil what that part does but it seems like something you may want to max out. I'm maxed out now so I'm ignoring most stuff under the "additional task" portion of the quest log. If a quest marker doesn't show up on my map then fuck it at this point.



>how is the writing? especially compared to ME 1 & 2. i read
>that the writing of ME:A is more "bro"-y and/or discount joss
>whedon

It's typical sci fi which I'm cool with. I heard some people say this game is more Star Trek than the last few movies and I'm inclined to agree. I dig the main story. We are the aliens here trying to make it in a galaxy we're trying to make livable. I think people forget that in the first few games Shepard is already an N7 rank and got made a specter at the start of the game. This dude doesn't know shit really other than basic military stuff. He got thrown into this in a pretty fucked up way. Everyone knows he did, and they constantly remind him until he starts to prove himself. The loyalty missions are fantastic. Especially Liam's. The game honestly made me want to smack the shit out of him for how he got us into this mess, when it was done I wanted to high five him.


>this is probably it. one person posted the myriad gifs,
>images, and videos of weird facial animations, stiltled
>dialogue, and what are generally considered to be unshippable
>bugs and everyone else on the internet kept reposting and
>memeing them

A lot of the complaints are valid. Like we've seen with most games this big they're going to have some glitches. I've honestly have more with games like Fallout 4 and Skyrim. I feel like I've put close to 100 hours into this game and its froze on me twice. I haven't seen the goofy run glitch at all. I had one cut scene where the other person wasn't visible at all. All fixed by restarting the game. This is a new team working on Mass Effect, and they went to the frostbyte engine instead of Unreal like they've used before. Makes me feel like everyone just posted their strangest glitch and made it seem like the game was unplayable when it's all combined.

it was that good.

I wasn't expecting anything in this game to work that well based on what I'd played before that.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

getting the right combo's with powers and guns is dope

some of these shotguns just melt enemies

Fucking loved it!

Does it have issues? Yes
So does half the shit released now. Doesn't make it right. Still feel like it got treated unfairly compared to other releases. Guess I got lucky with not having that many glitches.

Anyway I'm very pleased, and it seems like the choices I made really paid off, even the ones where after I highly questioned myself but refused to redo it.

** last chance ***









So what did you choose during the missions?

*Krogan scout team or Salarians? I chose the Salarians because they had a pathfinder with them but immediately thought I was shitting on the Krogans again.

*Did you shoot Peebee's Ex? I didn't but think I will the second play through

*Which smuggler did you side with? Sloane or the other dude? I chose to side with Sloane and the other dude became ghost.

*Did you do a deal with that Kitt guy? I didn't but guess he may be the big bad now in any DLC that follows.


I wonder how missed up the Quarians are going to be

>** last chance ***
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>So what did you choose during the missions?
>
>*Krogan scout team or Salarians? I chose the Salarians because
>they had a pathfinder with them but immediately thought I was
>shitting on the Krogans again.

I picked the Krogans. They've been shit on through history long enough. It was one Pathfinder and we've seen that another can be choosen. Honestly don't regreat this choice at all.


>*Did you shoot Peebee's Ex? I didn't but think I will the
>second play through

No I let her live only because I figure the ones I do save will do me big favors later. Plus Peebee really liked her even if she treated her like shit.


>*Which smuggler did you side with? Sloane or the other dude?
>I chose to side with Sloane and the other dude became ghost.

I went with Sloane. As crazy as she is she never once used me or lied to me. Reyes lied about a ton of stuff and although me and him were cool that one made me feel like he was only interested in his own gain.

>*Did you do a deal with that Kitt guy? I didn't but guess he
>may be the big bad now in any DLC that follows.

I agreed to side with him to get the codes. When it was time for me to use them at the end I said screw him and kept them. Since it let me keep them I'm guessing I'll have another chance to use them if it hits the fan again
>


>I wonder how missed up the Quarians are going to be

Maaaaan I'm wondering if that'll be in the DLC or saved for the next entry in the series. Sounds like they have a complete nightmare on their hands. Like Ryder said it's either a distress call or a warning. Know one thing I can't wait to find out.

I love all the help I got at the end. To see everyone come together like that was amazing. Everyone lived on my playthrough even down to the minor characters.

insert wey bey gif


ah - didn't know they would give you another choice during the final fight. I just told dude no to the deal and he was at the very end walking off into the darkness after I beat the zealot dude.



>>.>*Did you do a deal with that Kitt guy? I didn't but guess he
>may be the big bad now in any DLC that follows.

>>I agreed to side with him to get the codes. When it was time for me to use them at the end I said screw him and kept them. Since it let me keep them I'm guessing I'll have another chance to use them if it hits the fan again

See I figured the codes would just make the ending easier. Also thought it was going to be a double cross or something, like he wanted the Archon out of the picture so he could do what he wanted. When I got to the part that asked if I wanted to use it or not I sat for like 2 minutes going over what could happen. Then I figured if the game gave me a choice now to save it then it must be useful later. When I saw ol boy looking off in the distane at the end I was so happy I kept it. Figure he may be a part of the DLC or something.

i'm choosing to read 'fixed' as 'finished working on.' now the characters actually look like believable beings and not weird dolls

http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/6/15207502/mass-effect-andromeda-patch-eyes-comparison

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

With the graphics and load time patches, it's a better game to manage. It was painful looking at these dead eyed motherfuckers while they send me off on some side mission.

This is basically the first Mass Effect on steroids. You have the exploration aspect in your vehicle and you can get out to explore a bit. However there are SO many damned things to do on each planet. Well lemme rephrase: it's a lot of 2 or 3 things to do on each planet.

You get your quests, sidequests and fetch quests where you're scanning or picking up or destroying something. I absolutely HATE everything regarding the Remnants. I don't give a shit about them. Every new planet I've found I go straight to the vaults to get it overwith and I don't even bother with the puzzle stuff because it's basically the space version of pulling levers in Tomb Raider and goddamn Sudoku. I hate it.

The fetch quests are okay. I've grown into a bit of a completionist lately so I don't mind it. The main line and loyalty quests is where this game shines though. Every main mission is fun, intense and has some great story beats. Same for the loyalty missions.

And as far as bugs, I don't really mind disappearing cups or floating enemies but there are some times where you can only talk to an NPC when you're standing directly in front of them and that doesn't even seem like a bug; it's more a design decision but it's stupid as fuck.

I'm being overly negative but it's really a decent game. If you don't wanna get frustrated, play the mainline quest, loyalty missions and remnant vault stuff then play the other sidemissions in your New game + playthrough.

But for the good stuff. The environments are fuckin gorgeous. I hate remnant vaults but they're well designed and they're pretty as hell. There are some things they do with size and space that are incredible. There's a gigantic remnant spaceship sticking out of the sand on Elaaden that is one of my favorite things to look at in the game.

The characters are still fun but the writing is a bit off. It seems like they tried to inject too many humorous things and pop culture references rather than letting it happen naturally. They referenced star wars at one point and it took me out of the game like "Star wars exists in this universe?"

The combat is probably the best in the ME series though. I miss squad commands but you'll have to pay attention to the battlefield so you can take advantage of biotic/tech combos and stuff. You get a wider range of freedom in this battle system and I didn't bother to mess with Profiles until 30 hours into the game and I'm addicted. You can switch powers on the fly so if you want, you can have a turret with singularity and incinerate.

Weapon customization is fun but I find myself using the weapons I grab from containers and buying from shops.

If you got it, power through the weak stuff and get to the mainline quests. If you don't, wait until mid summer when the full patches release and it won't ruin your experiences. I'm enjoying it more as I play it.

The map/quest tracking system is a bag of mashed up assholes.

If you need to meet somebody for a part of a mission, sometimes the quest marker doesn't even show up unless you're in the same room with them. You won't find it on the map even if you mark it in the quest screen. Every now and again they'll give you an indicator to play hot + cold to find certain things but that's it. Right now I can't even finish Kadara w/o finding Reyes but I found Reyes and they don't tell me what to do next.

Some missions require waiting on an email from an email terminal on your ship. can you get that via the AI computer embedded in your brain? Of course not. You gotta go on your ship so that means a 20 second animation. And that email? it says "come meet me on the planet you just left to read this email" Go fuck yourself quest/mission.

Yeah, I don't like the whole animation of leaving the planet when I only came on the ship to read email.

Speaking of floating enemies, I hit a kett on Eos with a biotic combo, and flung his ass clear across the planet, like that rabbit in the woods on The Simpsons:

https://youtu.be/9Wry3GQGwq0

you can knock motherfuckers straight outta the skybox. I saw somebody flying during the Drack loyalty mission and I was dyin.

it has serious issues, but it's Mass Effect. I like Liam more than other people, although I curved his thirsty ass. Jaal too.

Vetra is bae.




www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

*Achievement unlocked!

of course, explaining to my fiancee why I was two-timing #birdbae was complicated, but as the savior of the universe I feel like I've earned a sidepiece

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I had the reporter on the Nexus & Peebee. Something was starting up with the museum curator but really didn't go anywhere.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Me either but I guess the early stuff counted.

but I decided I couldn't deal with his lies

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

BLUE TITTIES!

I guess quarians are coming in the sequel, so fuck Peebee for PURPLE TITTIES!

The Marvel credits villain was kinda telegraphed. It's weird that they just couldn't leave Shepard completely out of this. I guess the whole Initiative was to save people from the Reapers, before shit jumped off. I guess we'll find more out about the benefactor in the sequel. How much money does it take for each race to have separate arks?

was the (SPOILER)

quarian ark mentioned in the ending or is that in the postgame? I've heard about how it goes down, but I was working while I was playing and I may have missed it.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

There's a mission to talk to people on the ark after the Archon fight, and one person you speak to receives transmission that the quarian, elcor, hanar, and volus fleets are on their way.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Again stop if you haven't finished








I guess these are our possible DLC stories



*So they just gonna leave your Mom's asleep in cryo?
*Quarians and the other lost species
*Reyes
*Benefactor
*Kette
*Kid from Overlord testing


Anyone smash Suvi? - I was trying for her but ended up with Cora

>*So they just gonna leave your Mom's asleep in cryo?

She still hasn't been cured. I could see this being a DLC. Probably going into some Exile or Kett heavy place to get special ingredients.

>*Quarians and the other lost species

I would guess they'd save something that big for a sequel.

>*Reyes

He's probably gonna try to get revenge some kinda way. Probably jam it into a bigger DLC pack, or a quick side mission.

>*Benefactor

I see them going deeper into this in a sequel. Probably tie in more connections to Shepard. I definitely want more info. I want them to calculate how much this shit costs, like they came up with the cost to save Matt Damon in all of his movies.

>*Kette

Probably another sequel thing, judging by the ominous ending.

>*Kid from Overlord testing

This was weird. I crafted the part, but maybe I zoned out on what to do with it. I couldn't keep them from murking his mom, now he hates me.
>
>
>Anyone smash Suvi? - I was trying for her but ended up with
>Cora

Suvi had a sexy accent, but I've been an asari lover since ME1.
>

>Again stop if you haven't finished
>
>

>*So they just gonna leave your Mom's asleep in cryo?

guess so
>*Quarians and the other lost species

hope that's dlc, don't want to wait for the next games
>*Reyes

I saved sloane, and then busted a shot at reyes kinda just off of reflex. he didn't die, but we didn't hook up and I never saw him again

>*Benefactor

yeah I dunno

>*Kette

?

>*Kid from Overlord testing

I made the thing and saved him, now his mom is in prison or whatever but I think they were hoping she could get some leniency because he's working with the scientists

>
>
>Anyone smash Suvi? - I was trying for her but ended up with
>Cora

I wanted to, but she needed a commitment and I chose Vetra.

also smashed liam, peebee and the journalist sidechick.

jaal has the TIGHT face if you turn him down for commitment

http://xboxclips.com/Rjcc/aae87ead-0a4d-4cde-acde-c258f27fd162

>
>


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

>jaal has the TIGHT face if you turn him down for commitment

http://xboxclips.com/Rjcc/aae87ead-0a4d-4cde-acde-c258f27fd162

Also everything that was left out (quarians, for example) will never become resolved because the DLC was cancelled. What a shit show.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I enjoyed it overall. ME2 is still the pinnacle of the franchise. Combat is way better in Andromeda but the story and characters not as fleshed out. Also, the choices don't seem as drastic as a save the council or let them die stuff from previous games. Also wish the Quarians and Drell were featured, seems odd to have fewer alien races in a bigger game.

I played as female Ryder and romanced Peebee. They go hard R rating with the sex scenes now huh. lol I liked it finally circled back to the OGs near the end finding out the Milky Way got wiped out, etc. I'd like for another game as still love the ME world but won't hold my breath knowing this wasn't well received.

and yes, its happening as well as a new game

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/new-mass-effect-game-from-bioware-161639408.html


Im glad the franchise isn't dying, not sure if the new game will meet expectations but they can do a lot just with the remaster imo, will be fun playing thru that again

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I've been wanting to replay 2, but this is great incentive to wait.

I'm not holding out great hope for the next edition, as I think it was a magical time that had lost steam by the end of ME3, but I won't fault them for trying.