Mass Effect: Andromeda - Review @ RPG Site

RPG Site has reviewed Mass Effect: Andromeda:

Mass Effect: Andromeda Review

After the highs of the Mass Effect trilogy, being tasked with taking that universe further is a daunting order. An incredible space opera spanning three games with The Normandy’s crew isn’t something easily uncoupled from expectations into future games - or any Bioware title for that matter. Mass Effect: Andromeda's greatest challenge is surviving the series' towering legacy, and it is here that both its greatest successes and failures are found.

Andromeda's story, characters, environments, and sound are Mass Effect to their very core. Taking Ryder as far away from Shepard as possible gives the game the distance it needs to start somewhat fresh away from some of the minutiae of the trilogy. However, the goodwill built up by the Tempest’s crew and the journey into Andromeda is significantly damaged by struggling performance and a jarring lack of polish in places.

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For all the hyperbole around rough animations online and for all the complaints I've had to raise in this review, it bears saying outright - Mass Effect: Andromeda is a good game.

It needs to be repeated over and over, as with any luck most of the worst offenders to its quality such as crashes can and will hopefully be patched. The facial animations melt into the background as the story immerses you - and it'd be silly to pretend that the trilogy didn't have any of that 'Bioware jank' going on - it's just more immediately noticeable here. Perhaps this console generation shift has moved the quality goalposts further than Bioware were able to reach in this title.

The back half of the game is certainly a drastic improvement on the early parts, and the way it wrapped up certainly boosted my impressions of the game. I'm particularly fond of Andromeda’s tone. It's hopeful, and feels more bright-eyed than the trilogy. Where the trilogy games each wrap up with the feeling that chapter is closed, Andromeda encourages you to return post-game and continue the adventure - because in a new galaxy, there's lots of exploring to do.

Andromeda has a spirit that I don’t want to see squashed by technical failures and a few questionable design decisions. Andromeda is ambitious and above all else it has heart - the deeper I got into the game, the more glued to it I became. Had it been anything less I would’ve sat my controller down and given up, but the journey most certainly made the struggle worth it.

Ryder’s tale feels like a solid beginning to something new. It needs more than a little polish, and probably some extensive work under the hood, but Andromeda has reassured me Mass Effect can exist without the Citadel, Earth, Shepard or even Ryder. This new galaxy left me with more questions than answers, but I’m okay with that. I hope another entry to the series means more exploration into every corner of humanity’s new home.

Score: 7/10

More information.

I have played about 15 hours so far, though I play slowly so I have only finished the second area (Eos), and so far this is one of the greatest games ever (though nothing is perfect). I am a big Mass Effect fanboi (meaning that I greatly enjoyed the first trilogy), though, so there is that.

Did you like the cringy writing?

Rating sounds about right. I did as much as I could on EOS and have now moved to the second area - and met my first friendly aliens which was cool. My own personal rating so far, after about 25 hours, is a 7.

Good review.

Looking forward to playing it, but decided to wait for polish and first DLC.
(enormous backlog, just finished divinity: dragon commander)

I'm a big fan of space opera, for me its just a question of when.

/C

Yeah, do not get the hate this game has leveled at it. Seriously, if the trilogy had many of the same issues people have with this game. Personally, I'm enjoying this game more than the others, if just for the sense of exploration that was weirdly lacking in a trilogy about space travel. There was some weird dialog, but nothing like what reviewers have said. One review attacked the planets' uniqueness, saying, for instance, apart from the flying rocks, habitat 7 could be Arizona… I was like, ARE WE PLAYING THE SAME GAME?! And this came from someone that most likely ADORES Star Wars and/or Star Trek and is perfectly fine with how almost all the planets in the movies are purely earth like, far more than anything in Andromeda. They even mentioned that NPCs in the game bring up the flying rocks on Hab 7 constantly, but, guess what? THEY GET MENTIONED 2-3 TIMES TOPS!!!! Much like the show Iron Fist, it feels like reviewers jumped on a band wagon of hate before even playing the game. Like their minds were already made up, and issues they ignored in Mass Effect 1-3 suddenly are massive no-no's.

Yeah, I'm trying to decide whether my basic enjoyment of flying around alien planets will outweigh the cringe-inducing writing and voice acting.

I think the gameplay and graphics has improved, but the animation, models, writing and dialogue, all are much worse. I think it is night and day, I dont think there was any cringe inducing dialogue was in ME 1-3 even in the romances.

Originally Posted by NFLed
I have played about 15 hours so far, though I play slowly so I have only finished the second area (Eos), and so far this is one of the greatest games ever (though nothing is perfect).

Actually Eos is most horrible part of the game. If you like it, just wait till you find another areas, you'll fall in the trap OMG can't stop playing this damned game.

Originally Posted by luj1
Did you like the cringy writing?

Yucky at start, later gets better sadly again dips low sometimes. Inconsistent. There is stuff to like and there is stuff you'll want to post on Bioware forums to devs to fire whoever wrote it. Wait… They shutdown their forums. No wonder.

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
Rating sounds about right. I did as much as I could on EOS and have now moved to the second area - and met my first friendly aliens which was cool. My own personal rating so far, after about 25 hours, is a 7.

I think I'm in last quarter of the game. Not much left to do, most of sidequests are finished, the main mission and last settlement (Krogan planet) remained. And some tasks designed horribly, don't think I'll chase those anyway (random respawn of an item anywhere = pixelhunt on huge maps). Yeah and architects. Found 3. There is 4th somewhere on this last planet, still searching where… Didn't kill any. Yet.
If that site chased only the main story and ignored everything else, then okay, it's a logical score. But this game is supposed to be an exploration game - IMO it doesn't fail on that point and the rating is wrong.

So how do you rank it on a scale from 1 to 10?

Originally Posted by joxer
If that site chased only the main story and ignored everything else, then okay, it's a logical score. But this game is supposed to be an exploration game - IMO it doesn't fail on that point and the rating is wrong.

Um, I thought is was meant to be a space opera RPG. If I wanted an exploration game I would have gotten No Mans Sky, that game is little else but exploration.

Originally Posted by Damian
Um, I thought is was meant to be a space opera RPG. If I wanted an exploration game I would have gotten No Mans Sky, that game is little else but exploration.

Lemme start with shaky foundations of your comment.
It's a hybrid. Shooter+RPG. Means, regardless of your points spent on level up, your K+M or mushrooms skills matter. Maybe the so called story mode makes it more RPG but I'm playing the normal difficulty where if you won't run, fly and shoot, you're history. If you wanted core RPG, stay away from this game.
Do buy NMS, now there, since you've brought it up, you have a roleplaying inventory.
Just please don't forget I'm no dartagnan to debate over mundane stuff for days. I've posted already that I like shooters, hate carraces, etc etc, so you know what to expect from me to say about some game.

Originally Posted by luj1
So how do you rank it on a scale from 1 to 10?

I don't rank games before I finish them. Unless I uninstall them instantly which would be 0/10. Example: let's insult PC audience Neptunia. Or 1/10 if at least they have some proper hair.
Shallwe wait for Codex score? I bet they've already 100% the game and are replaying it now just for making more frogwalk animation gifs.

Originally Posted by luj1
Did you like the cringy writing?

I am enjoying the writing, and find very little negative about it.

It has in my view the same amount of unrealistic conversations as most other games which have a lot of voice acting, which is to say not zero, and about the same as in the previous ME games.

Its a fun game and I find myself playing far longer than I should each night (meaning I am staying way up past my bedtime because I want to see what comes next). So its actually good if it can do that. Hard to pull away. I do rate my games as I play but always stress "so far" as I am just giving an idea how I feel about at point X.

I hate coordination puzzles though which affects my rating. I hate jumping puzzles and doing it on a keyboard the way I have things mapped … just ugh. Still I have solved them all so far on my own without help which has felt like an accomplishment. But I cringe every time I have to start jumping and moving mid air as I jump. Could do without those puzzles as I have poor hand/eye coordination.

I don't even notice the animations anymore - you just get used to them and they blend in the background so it has become a complete non-issue other than a rare occasion I might see a small glitch like clipping. Its a big space opera and needs to be taken with a grain of salt like any game. I don't try to over-analyze logic issues and just go with the flow and have fun with it. Been working out well that way. Its entertainment after all.

Damn.. I will give it another chance. I loved the ME serie, really did. But I had really been hurting with the 2 first hours. Well, if it really gets better after ..

Originally Posted by Aerth
Damn.. I will give it another chance. I loved the ME serie, really did. But I had really been hurting with the 2 first hours. Well, if it really gets better after ..

The tutorial planet was a bit average, but I think it did become a lot better later on once you got to the full planets where you could drive around.

I'm about halfway I think. The whining is greatly exaggerated. The characters (including main character) are not as interesting as they tend to be in BioWare games, but other than that it's probably better than ME2 and 3.

There are two main differences though:
1) The animation mess prior to release has made it the "hype" to whine about the game. Previously, reviewers etc pretty much had to give anything BioWare related 9 out of 10.
2) The Witcher 3 set a new bar. It's often referred to in reviews and such, which is fine, but only if they do the same with every other game that's released. I don't feel that has been the case.

Some of the worst writing I ever had the misfortune of gazing upon. Giving this corpse 5/10 is generous, and it's only due to somewhat decent combat.

Originally Posted by Maylander
I'm about halfway I think. The whining is greatly exaggerated. The characters (including main character) are not as interesting as they tend to be in BioWare games, but other than that it's probably better than ME2 and 3.

I find the crew more interesting than previous BioWare games personally. I tend to only like 1 or 2, with the rest on meh and "won't bother talking to you on replay" category. In MEA, I like most of them and there is no "won't bother talking to you on replay" yet.

I also like my Sara a lot, currently #2 after sarcastic f!Hawke. I do think that DA2 used the tone dialogue system better though (cold/calculating vs funny/emotional doesn't work as well as diplomatic vs sarcastic vs aggressive).