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Mass Effect: Andromeda | Review Thread

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B

Blue Ninja

Member
Tovarisc said:
You just have to love how petty gamers can be.



To be fair he did come and hype how highly game is scoring in mock reviews.
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That's the crazy thing, though: BioWare had no idea this was coming.

I guess it's the danger of the Fallout 4-cycle. Play your cards too close to the chest for too long without any real outside input, and you sorta lose perspective. At least, that's what I think happened here.

I sincerely hope the folks in Montreal get another crack at Mass Effect. It's one of ly favorite franchises, I'd hate to see it locked in the vault.
 
J

Justice_Bolt

Member
10k said:
:(

My most hyped game of the last four years next to Zelda

Me right now:

kStAi9n.gif
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Yeah, pretty much me too right now. I expected better..
I am in denial.
 
U

Unaha-Closp

Member
Well Horizon was great and Persona 5 is soon - time to hit the backlog and play something else. Nobody wanted a direct to video sequel Mass Effect. I didn't anyway. Shit I might just play ME1 again - it being the best ME game after all :D
 
L

Lime

Member
marrec said:
Mass Effect has always been a kludgey mess but the novelty of a well-written space opera RPG propelled it through the crappy gameplay and increasingly anemic RPG mechanics. As the writing got worse the novelty began to wear and by the end of the 3rd game it was clear what this series strengths and weaknesses were and if it was to reclaim it's former glory it would have to be on the back of a shift in priority.

Andromeda doesn't seem to have learned the lesson of ME3. You can't just keep making the same flawed game in a bigger world with worse writing and expect the novelty of the past to continue to carry you. It's the exact same trajectory that Dragon Age has taken, actually.
Click to expand...

It seems to me that Bioware is simply too afraid to push the envelope and evolve and experiment. Instead they rely on the same formula they developed in KOTOR and has been adding whatever is popular at the time to the formula while having teenage romance and Chosen One narratives for the last 17 years.
 
K

Kagutaba

Member
APZonerunner said:
The flip side is that I genuinely do really, really like the characters and story in the game. It took me a while - 10 hours in I really wasn't sure, because with characters in particular it felt like they went for opposites. What if Grunt was a Grandpa? We get Drack. What if Garrus was more worried about family than duty? We get Vetra. What if Liara was still academically genius and naturally curious, but instead of a model student was a punk? Meet Peebee. What if Jacob wasn't bland and crap? Here's Liam.

I was really worried about this for a while, but slowly over the course of the game they come into their own, and in particular they sell a level of interaction and camaraderie between the crew of the Tempest that it took them three games to reach with the various Normandy crews. There's a lot of the Citadel DLC in some of the crew's interactions.

I also think the broad pathfinder story is pretty good - the antagonist is a bit under-developed, but that's about it. It takes way too long to get there (it was probably over 20 hours before I was convinced), but when it gets there I think that stuff is broadly speaking as good as the rest of ME - I don't get the story complaints. The bits people have posted as bad writing, well - they're all ways that the original trilogy suffered from in the same way - ME being pulpy and dumb.

It's a game with a split personality - combat controls great, but the RPG systems are half-baked and don't give you the choice you had in past games despite having more options on paper. The story and characters are amazing, but they're consistently undermined by bad facial animation, poorly timed scripting, etc. Generally speaking I do think the good far outweighs the bad, mind.

I think anything higher than a 7 is madness, but this is using the full scale, not the magic video games 7-10 scale.
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Yes I would agree, I think the companions stands well compared to the rest in the series. They probably won't reach the same highs as the best of ME2's cast, but so far as a whole, I would put them above the companions we had in the first game.
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
BearPawB said:
Except I have also played the first 3 hours and they are really really bad.

Yet people jump through hoops defending his impressions
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Why is Shinobi not allowed to have his own opinion? Some will still dig the game, while others will find it abhorrent. Same as it ever was.
 
Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Member
LordKano said:
It's certainly not an AAA lol.



Oh yeah, how does this one seems to be ? I have no interest in the franchise tbh.
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I have faith this one will get marketed better, and word of mouth is going to be pushing it on that PS4 userbase like hot fire.

The resurgence of AA games getting critically acclaimed and selling decently is alive and well.
 
B

bosseye

Member
the main story, the characters, and most of the writing keep the game from being great. Sadly, technical mess keeps it from being good
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From the Playstation Life review. And yet still gets 6.5/10! Despite the admission that its not even 'good'.

The pointlessness of quantified review scores summed up beautifully.
 
Andodalf

Andodalf

Banned
BearPawB said:
Except I have also played the first 3 hours and they are really really bad.

Yet people jump through hoops defending his impressions.
I am glad he enjoyed it!
I wish I did!

But we can't have it both ways where we have like a giant thread about what Shinobi thinks, then a few days later say "why does anyone care?"
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My impressions are the exact same as his tho? Should I just never play video games again, because I clearly have "Bad" opinions?
 
W

Wulfram

Member
bosseye said:
From the Playstation Life review. And yet still gets 6.5/10! Despite the admission that its not even 'good'.

The pointlessness of quantified review scores summed up beautifully.
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6.5 definitely isn't good, so I don't know what you're complaining about?
 
H

Holundrian

Unconfirmed Member
BearPawB said:
Except I have also played the first 3 hours and they are really really bad.

Yet people jump through hoops defending his impressions.
I am glad he enjoyed it!
I wish I did!

But we can't have it both ways where we have like a giant thread about what Shinobi thinks, then a few days later say "why does anyone care?"
Click to expand...

Don't even know what you mean with that. But sure let's burn everyone that dares to write impressions that don't mesh with the consensus for our own stupidity in giving too much stock to it, because I'm sure that creates a good forum environment.

And for your info I ain't the type of person that glosses over ME:A faults heck I'm one of the people making fun of it a lot I won't even buy the game cause I don't deem it worth my time, I'd rather go back to other games I missed in this insane season like Horizon and Gravity Rush 2. But that and throwing shade at someone for simply sharing their impressions are two different things.
 
S

suddenlyissoon

Member
I would honestly say that the Mass Effect trilogy (especially 2 & 3) were easily in my top 10 games I've ever played. I'm beyond disappointed about this and I'm really, really upset with Bioware that they'd shovel the project out like this with such glaring issues.
 
L

LordKano

Member
Jarmel said:
P5 is going to clear a few million in sales and looks to have had a decently large budget. It's AAA.
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What ? It would be good if it even manages to break a million US+EU. It's not an AAA and is far from having a huge budget. It's a PS3 game.

Mifec said:
Pretty gud as far as immersive sims go, in fact the Kett look like they've been blasted with the GLOO gun from Prey.
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Audioboxer said:
I have faith this one will get marketed better, and word of mouth is going to be pushing it on that PS4 userbase like hot fire.

The resurgence of AA games getting critically acclaimed and selling decently is alive and well.
Click to expand...

Cool, Bethesda seems to got it with their last projects.
 
P

Par Score

Member
75.

For a Mass Effect game.

For a Bioware game.

This is the company that has brought us some of the highest rated and best regarded games of all time. Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, etc. The last Bioware game that got this bad a score was Sonic Chronicles (that rubbish JRPG Sonic game for the DS with the 11th hour music track switch and shambolic controls/combat) so this must be a real stinker.

Just, yowza. What a fall from grace.
 
Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Member
SomedayTheFire said:
6.5 should be good, but the skewed scoring system keeps it from being good. that's 3/5, which also should be good.
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It is good, but no point in living in a bubble. What is equivalently ME4 is going to get compared to ME1~3.

If this was a new IP, and not supposedly Bioware calibre, this could be seen as a relative success. It is supposed to be Bioware calibre, and it's not a new IP.

Doesn't mean anyone can't enjoy it, but for sure it's going to polarize and/or disappoint many ME fans.
 
killatopak

killatopak

Gold Member
I guess the problem with Shinobi is that he was hyping the game and there were others on gaf or reviewers who said the opposite of shinobi's impression and when people tried to criticize the details in shinobi's impression they were gunned down and was simply told to fuck themselves.

People in that thread were just not listening to criticism and just close their ears screaming lalala.
 
U

Ushay

Member
Looks like there is a great game in there mired by technical issues, which is a huge shame. This game could have been easily 85+ had they ironed out the issues beforehand.

While I haven't played the campaign yet, I hope they will fix and update the game over the next year by the time I get around to it. For that reason I'm hanging on to my pre order.
 
Falchion

Falchion

Member
Well this kind of sucks, first game of the year that I was excited about which got panned by the critics. I'll still be playing it at some point, but it's certainly not a 'must not miss' title at this point.
 
B

BearPawB

Banned
Holundrian said:
Don't even know what you mean with that. But sure let's burn everyone that dares to write impressions that don't mesh with the consensus for our own stupidity in giving too much stock to it, because I'm sure that creates a good forum environment.

And for your info I ain't the type of person that glosses over ME:A faults heck I'm one of the people making fun of it a lot I won't even buy the game cause I don't deem it worth my time, I'd rather go back to other games I missed in this insane season like Horizon and Gravity Rush 2. But that and throwing shade at someone for simply sharing their impressions are two different things.
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And in the same light maybe we shouldn't praise everyone that "dares to write impressions"
 
R

Rodhull

Member
Fanuilos said:
And he is repeatedly linking the playstation store page for the game on twitter. I get enjoying a game and wanting people to play it, but he is too insistent on this one.
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That's what happens when you use the share button on PS4 is it not? Doubt he's manually adding the store link to his tweets.
 
H

Holundrian

Unconfirmed Member
killatopak said:
I guess the problem with Shinobi is that he was hyping the game and there were others on gaf or reviewers who said the opposite of shinobi's impression and when people tried to criticize the details in shinobi's impression they were gunned down and was simply told to fuck themselves.

People in that thread were just not listening to criticism and just close their ears screaming lalala.
Click to expand...
That's not on shinobi though. That's on fanboys being fanboys.
BearPawB said:
And in the same light maybe we shouldn't praise everyone that "dares to write impressions"
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Where did I ever praise him? Fucking quote me before you ramble your delusions. All I'm saying that when a dude writes impression of the first 3h of an RPG that should be absolutely fine. You can go in there and disagree with your own impressions. Nobody should catch flag for that. What I criticize are all the dumb dums taking those impressions at face value and let it influence their purchasing decision and then blaming the impressions. It wasn't a professional review, it was impressions from a person of the first 3h. Now if that was a professional review I would very much take the opposite stance given that I personally feel it glossed over stuff.
 
B

brandonh83

Banned
What I get out of this thread so far is that shinobi is the only player alive that liked the game, all the reviews are dire and that there sure is a lot of people, without having played it themselves, are wallowing like gluttons in their own confirmation bias.

I'm sure the game is problematic but damn, it's always a drama scene with this shit.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
BearPawB said:
Except I have also played the first 3 hours and they are really really bad.

Yet people jump through hoops defending his impressions.
I am glad he enjoyed it!
I wish I did!

But we can't have it both ways where we have like a giant thread about what Shinobi thinks, then a few days later say "why does anyone care?"
Click to expand...

Here, my game of the generation so far:

7tNZgS3.png


Now what?

This shit IS subjective and unless you are a reviewer you don´t have to put a score on it.

Shinobi enjoys it - for HIS reasons.
 
J

JeremyEtcetera

Unconfirmed Member
It was a smart move to make this a one-off title instead of calling it Mass Effect 4, in case of failure. However, I don't think of this game as a full failure. I think of it as a good attempt from a team who just wasn't quite ready yet to make a game of this magnitude. They possibly could have used more time or more help from a different developer. Not sure which.

Those of you trying to throw the original trilogy under the bus to justify your purchase/investment, that's not cool at all and does a disservice to a great set of games. Be as open minded(positively and negatively) as you are when you go buy tickets to see a movie. Not every movie you see will be an A+ work.

Par Score said:
75.

For a Mass Effect game.

For a Bioware game.
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There are too many different Bioware teams now for this to mean something anymore.
 
R

rdytoroll

Member
That RPS review, good lord. He went in.

RPS
I’ve a very strong feeling that people are going to buy this anyway, and many will milk from it what they can in order to feel rewarded. That’s great. But as a follow-up to the previous trilogy, it’s a timid and tepid tale too heavily reliant on what came before, too unambitious for what could have been, trapped in a gargantuan playground of bits and pieces to do.
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T

TheFatMan

Member
About what I expected. Average ratings.

Still, there isn't an abundance of Sci-Fi RPGs of this scale (in fact there are basically none), and I love the lore and world building of Mass Effect so I am still down and excited.

I'll form my own opinion of the game like always.
 
Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Member
GlamFM said:
Here, my game of the generation so far:

7tNZgS3.png


Now what?

This shit IS subjective and unless you are a reviewer you don´t have to put a score on it.

Shinobi enjoys it - for HIS reasons.
Click to expand...

Destiny launched very light on content. It's effectively a MP MMO though and those can turn around an iffy launch in spectacular fashion. EA/Bioware are not re-writing and re-doing ME:A scripts and VA. At best we're getting jank fixed. Possibly some DLC that might be good, but that's paid content on top.

The dagger to ME:A is its backbone seems pretty woeful and in a narrative based SP game that can often be a kiss of death.
 
B

BearPawB

Banned
GlamFM said:
Here, my game of the generation so far:

7tNZgS3.png


Now what?

This shit IS subjective and unless you are a reviewer you don´t have to put a score on it.

Shinobi enjoys it - for HIS reasons.
Click to expand...


Good for you?

I'm not mad at Shinobi for liking the game. I said as much.

I like lots of games that didn't review well.
I've not put as much time into Horizion as I would like because I can't stop playing EDF

But people also don't make a 20 page threads about our impressions. You didn't get destiny from your friends in the dev team
 
T

The Baron Count

Member
alt27 said:
Why? It seems it should be actually lower. Alot of the reviews seem to have inflated scores due to nostalgia
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Can we not do this?

It's an absolutely nonsensical argument that has no business being brought up in a rational discussion about a game, and only exists because some think that people that like the game are "wrong".
 
P

prwxv3

Member
GlamFM said:
Here, my game of the generation so far:

7tNZgS3.png


Now what?

This shit IS subjective and unless you are a reviewer you don´t have to put a score on it.

Shinobi enjoys it - for HIS reasons.
Click to expand...

Can't wait for the "they are only trying to validate their purchase" arguments pop up when other people come out positive on the game.
 
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