Overall, early impressions of this game's review build are not good. That is surprising to me.

ViralAg said:

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Overall, early impressions of this game's review build are not good. That is surprising to me.

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All three versions are sitting around 75 on metacritic, which lines up with my more trusted review sites. Most seem to agree it's a good story, with great combat, marred by some flaws and tediousness that seems to be a step back from the original trilogy.

http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/20/14886618/mass-effect-andromeda-review-PS4-Xbox-One-PC

tamusc said:

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...lines up with my more trusted review sites...

http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/20/14886618/mass-effect-andromeda-review-PS4-Xbox-One-PC

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Does not compute.

Alright so I played as much of the SP as it would allow me. Spoiler free below although there isn't much that I can spoil really.

Pros:

Absolutely love the flying between planets, the visuals and feel is just awesome. Instead of a 2D overlay of the solar system you drive a little ship between, you get a pilot's eye view flying through a beautiful galaxy that is awesome. Big Improvement.

The whole mining and scanning thing is much more stream lined than before and don't know why people complain. Even in ME3 you had to "scan" each system and couldn't spend long before the bad guys chased you out. In this one, it marks which planets you have visited, will give you mission progress for certain number of planets searched, and it tells you instantly when you arrive if there is anything worth searching for. Much quicker and easier and no fuel to purchase so far.

The story seems good so far. I do feel a lack of disconnect from my sister/brother so far but could easily see that change as story develops. There is a process where you unlock memories from the father which is how I see that importance developing. There is already sides you can tell you will have to decide to be on as well as very grey moral choices to make.

I enjoy this talk system much more. In paragon style system I always felt cornered in choosing what I thought would lead my character down that path. Now I simply feel freer to choose what I feel like I would say for this run through, very nice. (How this impacts later is yet to be determined from my knowledge).

Combat is a mixed bag but I would say that overall it is improved through the seamless cover system and wider array of powers and abilities. They seem to be really pushing combos this time around.



Cons

Combat is still a little clunky and I am not used to the new button layout so far. Changing weapons isn't as quick or feel as easy but that could change or I might just need to re-map some buttons. However, it is no worse than any other Mass Effect game.

I find myself jump jetting instead of walking because of either a real or perceived speed increase. This just reminds me of games that you roll everywhere because it is faster and kind of sucks even though I do it to myself.

The biggest con so far is pretty bad and has been talked about quite a bit and it is the character models. Creating a character is pretty bad, especially the haircuts. It appears it is buzz cut or some douchy poofy hair choices. Its ok but just disappointing as I like a real gruff/rough looking character and it was a struggle to find something close. I only did male character.

In the same vein, the character animations can spoil the immersion pretty bad. Some characters don't move their body at all when they talk and others just have weird sort of like body snatcher vibes to them. Others do just fine but it is distracting and hopefully gets fixed to some degree. It as if they forgot the final step in finalizing the look and feel of the characters, that they are just the alpha version of what they should be instead of a final product. Oh the eyes. Also, one of the characters is voiced by the indian guy from silicon valley and I just can't get that character out of my head when hearing his voice.

Overall: The game was great and I found myself quickly exploring everything and sad when I couldn't do more. If you liked any of the Mass Effect games then I think you will enjoy this one. I definitely can see a lot more open world feel to it and more exploring like vibe compared to others. I think a 7.5/10 is a fair rating from what I saw. Improved character models would of made it an 8.5 for me based on the first few moments of the game.

agdoc2001 said:

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tamusc said:

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...lines up with my more trusted review sites...

http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/20/14886618/mass-effect-andromeda-review-PS4-Xbox-One-PC

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Does not compute.

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I find myself agreeing with their reviews far more often than not.

thaed137 said:

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In the same vein, the character animations can spoil the immersion pretty bad. Some characters don't move their body at all when they talk and others just have weird sort of like body snatcher vibes to them. Others do just fine but it is distracting and hopefully gets fixed to some degree. It as if they forgot the final step in finalizing the look and feel of the characters, that they are just the alpha version of what they should be instead of a final product. Oh the eyes. Also, one of the characters is voiced by the indian guy from silicon valley and I just can't get that character out of my head when hearing his voice.

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Enjoying the game but I can't stand talking to this guy... Horrible voice casting for this character.

I really appreciate these kind of reviews from casual gamers instead of major reviewers, as your experience is more in line of what I am looking for.

Anyone know WHEN it's released? I preordered the digital version, trying to figure out when I need to trigger the download, since PS4 takes FOREVER to download a game.

Took Wildlands like 20+ Hours

I believe the full game releases tomorrow.

Agreed. Thank you to the guys who played the early release. Much rather hear from someone on this board than some journalism major who is looking to make a big splash by trashing/praising a game early so they can say they said it first.

I think the animation thing will probably stick out the most because, in my mind at least, Witcher 3 was the last major RPG that was released and it was incredible. Granted there were plenty of little graphic glitches, but that game is damn near perfect.

Maybe they'll drop a major patch to fix some of the minor things, but overall I'm still excited to be back into the universe tomorrow

It does, I just don't know the time. Knowing how long it takes, I want to start the download as soon as I can.

At least some sites are reporting that the Day 1 patch will fix lady Ryder's model, despite what Bioware has been saying.

Looks like some decent advice to prevent you from getting bogged down too much in side quests

http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/20/14958694/what-you-need-to-know-about-mass-effect-andromedas-overwhelming-side-missions

Ah yah I don't know. It's already downloaded on my xbox so no help there.

Maybe Sara Ryder is designed to look that way and we are all being ******bags because she isn't super hot. Some people are just ugly as hell with a lazy eye and everything. We should accept all her flaws

wangus12 said:

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Maybe Sara Ryder is designed to look that way and we are all being ******bags because she isn't super hot. Some people are just ugly as hell with a lazy eye and everything. We should accept all her flaws

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I expected a ****** to be one of the main characters, but close enough. Bioware sure likes pushing that agenda now.

Shut it down said:

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I expected a ****** to be one of the main characters, but close enough. Bioware sure likes pushing that agenda now.

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/Shorhorn that stuff in!

Is that the ship doctor? If so, I guess it's about the same level as Krem in DA:I. It was no big deal in that game, I'm sure it's the same in this one. Can't be any worse than the gay weapon tech in ME3. That dude was ridiculously annoying if you played as a paragon.

No. Ship's doctor is an Asari voiced by Natalie Dormer

Ah, so is this one of the main companions, or just some random person on the ship?

joemeister74 said:

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Ah, so is this one of the main companions, or just some random person on the ship?

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Seems to be a random NPC in general.

I dunno. If you're going to use a transgender character to make some kind of point or say something, that's one thing. But if you're going to just throw in some random NPC, I feel like that takes away from the meaningfulness of it and seems more like something you're doing just to "check a box."

I believe the game unlocks tonight at 11pm CST.

Yeah. I triggered the download from my phone at school today and this afternoon it said it unlocks in about 6 hours.

Maybe they're trying to make a point. Here is a regular NPC. It happens to be trans. It changes nothing about the game and nobody cares, like 95% of the people in the real world.

tamusc said:

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Looks like some decent advice to prevent you from getting bogged down too much in side quests

http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/20/14958694/what-you-need-to-know-about-mass-effect-andromedas-overwhelming-side-missions

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Interesting. I wonder why they didn't put a mechanism in place to keep those side quests from being available until you actually know what they relate to.

Damn, full reviews are bad across the board. What a waste. This was my most anticipated game of the last 2 years.

Everything I've seen is 7.5-8/10. Sounds like it isn't so much a bad game, but rather, it isn't near as good as what a lot consider the best trilogy of all time in gaming. So basically, its Halo 4.

I think if this wasn't a Mass Effect title and not made by Bioware, it probably reviews better.

My personal fear, is that people will simply jump on the hate train to the extent that EA and Bioware proceed to cancel any further projects with the Mass Effect series which is a huge loss

As a HUGE Mass Effect fan...I'm 30 minutes in and this game is just bad. The graphics are a freaking joke. Feel like I'm watching bad actors with faces full of Botox.

I will of course keep going, but for now...shame on you bioware.

I think one of the issues with doing a 4th game in a series but with a new story within the universe is that the lens with which we view the game is maybe unfair. With ME2 you had characters that you already knew from the first game. Same with ME3, obviously. Here we are in the 4th game, and we're basically made to start over with both main character and supporting cast. It's not an impossible bridge to cross, but I feel like it's a tough standard. At least for me, part of the reason that I liked ME2 so much was I was really attached to the characters and found them interesting. That's certainly possible to do in one game, but they had to opportunity to lay the base for some of your crew and their stories in the first game.

I guess we'll see though. I have to go in early for work tomorrow so I won't be able to play it until tomorrow evening/night.

Played for 2 hours in the campaign. Game definitely needed more polish, particularly the character models. Unfortunately, that's not normally the type of thing that gets patched in a game like this. First thing I did was go into character creation. Holy ****, it's bad. I was expecting Dragon Age Inquisition bad, like bad hair styles and funky shading. Nope, the default faces, particularly female, look like something out of a 2005 game about homeless people.

I like combat so far, granted it's early. I imagine I'll probably do a single campaign then spend most of my time in the MP like with ME3.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in the polish, but I'm sure I'll get over it if the story is any good. I'm definitely glad I read a few reviews so that my expectations were taken down a notch or two before I started. Personally, I can have a hell of a lot of fun playing a 7.5/10 game.

wangus12 said:

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Everything I've seen is 7.5-8/10. Sounds like it isn't so much a bad game, but rather, it isn't near as good as what a lot consider the best trilogy of all time in gaming. So basically, its Halo 4.

I think if this wasn't a Mass Effect title and not made by Bioware, it probably reviews better.

My personal fear, is that people will simply jump on the hate train to the extent that EA and Bioware proceed to cancel any further projects with the Mass Effect series which is a huge loss

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Halo 4 wasn't bad, it was actually quite good. This is Halo 5 level terrible with regards to storyline except with added terrible outsourced animation, horrendous dialogue written like a terrible Twilight fanfic, forced SJW bull****, and broken character creation systems.

That dialogue is cringe worthy bad and holy hell did the game break hilariously in the video above.

This game just looks bad.

A few enjoyable moments doesn't justify paying full price.

And from what I've seen, I wouldn't even play it if it was offered for free.

My return to gaming and buying a console was based on the quality of games that were becoming available. This falls well below that standard.