George Oscar Bluth II
Banned
Looks like I'm gonna be playing some ME1 Citadel music on Spotify then.
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I played 3 hours of Mass Effect: Andromeda - Thoughts so far
- Thread starter shinobi602
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AWizardDidIt
Member
So here's the deal about Bioware and "plot". When people say Bioware is bad at "plots" they're only really referring to one very specific kind of plot, which happens to be the plot structure of KOTOR1 and ME1. But there isn't one defined storytelling metric and I'd argue that trying to judge all Bioware "plots" by one very specific metric is sort of unfair.
Mass Effect 2 is a tone and setting piece. While Mass Effect 1 established the setting of that universe, Mass Effect 2 is basically a series of short stories that explores it in detail. It's not really *about* its overarching plot in the same way ME1 is but that doesn't make the plot bad or unimportant... it just means it's used as a mechanism to house a bunch of cool stories within which I'd argue some of which are individually more interesting than the "plots" of something like ME1 or KOTOR.
Bioware's strengths have always been in their character writing, I'll definitely agree to that. ME2's method of storytelling leaned into that.
Random aside on DA:I, I think it actually had a pretty interesting plot, the player was just ignorant of half of it. The part where it explores faith in that world and this rise of a messianic figure is pretty great. Everything up to Skyhold I think works really well from the players PoV. Then the story sort of meanders and goes nowhere. Then we learn in Tresspasser
that Solas is actually the main character of Inquisition and that the story exists as his villain origin story and the player character is of arguable relevance at all. I think that's pretty brilliant personally, but your mileage may vary and I very much wish the game gave the player some more interesting things to do.
shinobi602
Member
I commented in the Rock, Paper, Shotgun thread and wanted to paste those thoughts here for people wondering a little more about side content too. I like to be fully transparent when I describe things so people don't come back and say I misled them. I haven't done many sidequests personally. I stated that from several reviewers I've spoken to that are deep in the game, more than myself, sidequests come into their own later and some have multiple quest lines that can span multiple areas/planets.
I also described a few side activities on the very first prologue planet that *felt* more fleshed out to me as opposed to DAI's fetch quests because they actually had narration by the characters and you learn/investigate some interesting things that provide neat info vs "Collect 10 ram hides for the soldier" in DAI for example.
Some more examples: I've also been going through a Turian murder mystery on the Nexus that spanned multiple conversations with the Nexus director, then a witness, the suspect's wife, etc and that's now asking me to go to Eos to find and investigate the remains.
Also been following up leads on someone sabotaging electrical grids on the Nexus and now I have to find out what's going on and why.
These things feel more compelling to me than a lot of the junk in DAI lol.
There's still the "tasks" that are simpler in nature. One injured soldier asked if I could place a pendant next to where he lost his brother on a planet, but even that felt more fleshed out than DAI 'sidequests' because he talked a bit about how close he was to his brother. I'm enjoying them personally.
So I can only speak for myself. Hope that helps
I also described a few side activities on the very first prologue planet that *felt* more fleshed out to me as opposed to DAI's fetch quests because they actually had narration by the characters and you learn/investigate some interesting things that provide neat info vs "Collect 10 ram hides for the soldier" in DAI for example.
Some more examples: I've also been going through a Turian murder mystery on the Nexus that spanned multiple conversations with the Nexus director, then a witness, the suspect's wife, etc and that's now asking me to go to Eos to find and investigate the remains.
Also been following up leads on someone sabotaging electrical grids on the Nexus and now I have to find out what's going on and why.
These things feel more compelling to me than a lot of the junk in DAI lol.
There's still the "tasks" that are simpler in nature. One injured soldier asked if I could place a pendant next to where he lost his brother on a planet, but even that felt more fleshed out than DAI 'sidequests' because he talked a bit about how close he was to his brother. I'm enjoying them personally.
So I can only speak for myself. Hope that helps
https://clips.twitch.tv/AssiduousSparklingTapirPeanutButterJellyTime
THIS VOICE THO
holy crap im dying
THIS VOICE THO
holy crap im dying
Yeah, it's a bummer, especially after BotW being a little disappointing in the same way. Shouldn't be a dealbreaker for people still hyped, though.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
Ugh, that isn't a Krogan voice.
shinobi602
Member
That's Nakmor Kesh, a female Krogan. Krogans shouldn't all just sound *deep, raspy, hardass voice*.
Trickster
Member
Sounds like a female krogan does, which happens to who the voice belongs to *shrug*
Honestly if there's a critcism I've seen about ME:A so far, that I really don't get, it's this. I have to assume that people mistakenly thinks she's a male krogan.
I remember this being a huge flaw in DA:I. All areas lacked a background music, only having a few seconds rarely happen. It made everything feel so... soulless. Background music is superimportant.
What's the problem? female Krogan sounds fine to me.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
Trickster
Member
I think it will be hard to go back to the trilogy afterwards. I played ME3 recently, and it just felt very outdated in many ways.
A little OT but it feels like a lot of the heavy hitters from last-gen really fall flat on playthroughs nowadays with the ways game systems & graphics have advanced.
shinobi602
Member
There's music in other areas and planets, just not on the Nexus.
Ah, that's interesting. IIRC, the female Krogan from ME2 (or was it 3) sounded like a human female (with perhaps added effect). But this one is jarringly different.
Thanks for the heads up.
Probably the best way to go. ME1 has aged pretty poorly, despite being narratively the most interesting and does the best job establishing the universe. 2 still holds up from a gameplay perspective and has some strong writing as well but is kind of a weird place to jump in if you didn't play 1. And ME3 isn't worth bothering if you didn't play the first two.
ME:A is an entirely new set of characters in a different setting from the trilogy (same universe, though). It'll likely be the smoothest playing entry in the series as well, so it's kind of a perfect place to jump in.
That's a female Krogan. Come on even I can tell that.
Sodding_Gamer
Member
Shinobi would you say the music is very Mass Effect 1-like? Is there ambient music on the tempest too? I really hope so!
Apparently, you never heard a female Krogan before. Voice sound what I expected after hearing Eve in ME3 for multiple playthroughs. I was expecting something ridiculous with the comments here lol.
Dandy Lyin
Member
I replayed the full trilogy in January and didn't find it too bad. ME1's gameplay was a bit rough... but thanks to down-sampling on PC it looks pretty good.
Trickster
Member
I mean it's not like it's unplayable or anything like that. But there's just some things that are very rough by modern standards. Also the menu was not designed for 1440p, so it's absolutely tiny on my screen, and a keyboard doesn't work well with the ui
SirPinkyNose
Member
Next time do some research before making a fool out of yourself.
shinobi602
Member
I'd say it's a mix of ME1 and ME2/3. There's definitely ME2/3 style orchestral pieces throughout, but then some tracks kick in where I heard synth ala ME1 and I love the new galaxy map music. It's different than ME1 but really oozes a sense of mystery and discovery. In my opinion.Shinobi would you say the music is very Mass Effect 1-like? Is there ambient music on the tempest too? I really hope so!
Sodding_Gamer
Member
That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Music is a huge thing for me and it's what will really give it some atmosphere. Yeah I heard the galaxy map music earlier today and it's brilliant! Love the subtle hints of the uncharted worlds track in it
Thinking a voice sounds different than my expectations = making a fool.
Gotcha. Feel better now?
Still think it sounds odd. Maybe I'll get used to it, but it's not at all what I was expecting and it made me laugh. The entirety of Twitch chat was just as startled as I was.
Woah. No fun allowed. Haven't you ever suffered a giggle at the expense of a strange looking/sounding alien in Star Wars, or Star Trek?
I mean - sure, it's canon. But the female Krogan voice is still sort of funny in a "what were you expecting?" kind of way. Intentionally so, I'd wager.
Peroroncino
Member
Great, that's what I wanted to hear, thanks!
SirPinkyNose
Member
With your expectation is it to sound different than the already established voice of the same species in the previous entry of the same series yes.
I expected a female krogan to look like human females and have big tits under those robes, but I don't go out of my way to make fun of their look in the gameplay or trailer.
I commented in the Rock, Paper, Shotgun thread and wanted to paste those thoughts here for people wondering a little more about side content too. I like to be fully transparent when I describe things so people don't come back and say I misled them. I haven't done many sidequests personally. I stated that from several reviewers I've spoken to that are deep in the game, more than myself, sidequests come into their own later and some have multiple quest lines that can span multiple areas/planets.
I also described a few side activities on the very first prologue planet that *felt* more fleshed out to me as opposed to DAI's fetch quests because they actually had narration by the characters and you learn/investigate some interesting things that provide neat info vs "Collect 10 ram hides for the soldier" in DAI for example.
Some more examples: I've also been going through a Turian murder mystery on the Nexus that spanned multiple conversations with the Nexus director, then a witness, the suspect's wife, etc and that's now asking me to go to Eos to find and investigate the remains.
Also been following up leads on someone sabotaging electrical grids on the Nexus and now I have to find out what's going on and why.
These things feel more compelling to me than a lot of the junk in DAI lol.
There's still the "tasks" that are simpler in nature. One injured soldier asked if I could place a pendant next to where he lost his brother on a planet, but even that felt more fleshed out than DAI 'sidequests' because he talked a bit about how close he was to his brother. I'm enjoying them personally.
So I can only speak for myself. Hope that helps
Love every bit of that, cant wait!!
Yikes.
Wanted to post this but there wasn't a thread so might as well post here.
Why would they bother leaving Milky Way to colonise Andromeda ? Resources? Seems like a giant leap to do something this big based on scanner readings. Beside Milky Way is huge..it's a galaxy. There should be enough in it for everyone for a while.
Plus how would they go about colonising a new galaxy without mass relays to transport them over vast distances ? Something that they know nothing about...Afterall it was the Mass Relays that allowed Milky Way races to expand. They'll spend an awful lot of time traveling while just ferrying shit..lol
Why would they bother leaving Milky Way to colonise Andromeda ? Resources? Seems like a giant leap to do something this big based on scanner readings. Beside Milky Way is huge..it's a galaxy. There should be enough in it for everyone for a while.
Plus how would they go about colonising a new galaxy without mass relays to transport them over vast distances ? Something that they know nothing about...Afterall it was the Mass Relays that allowed Milky Way races to expand. They'll spend an awful lot of time traveling while just ferrying shit..lol
It doesn't seem that female Krogans have any physical distinctions from male ones. In ME3 we had the benefit of having all the females wear veils and robes. In my opinion, it's easy to mistake that this Krogan is male.
Bioware's writers, mostly Casey Hudson and Mac Walters, shit the bed so badly in ME3 that they had to leave the Milky Way and go to Andromeda to reboot the entire universe. That's why we're now in Andromeda instead of the Milky Way.
The rest of your questions shows that you have put more thought into this than Bioware. I've learned just to accept that you cannot take the universe seriously and its laws are always up to change to accommodate whatever fits the writers the most. Some of the writers associated with the universe is more than fine with pulling stuff out of their asses and in turn this has thrown the believability in its fiction out the window.
Rellik
Member
Isn't it because of the reaper threat? Would you rather stay and get wiped out by them or take a chance and go somewhere else?
I like how the lady despawns when walking behind the Krogan lol
Metroidvania
People called Romanes they go the house?
Bioware has de-emphasized the Reapers as a 'main' reason, and have only even brought it up again as of recently.
They've been pushing more of a 'because we can - EXPLORERS!!!' type deal.
Mr. Phellps
Member
Yeah, what Rellik said.
Also, you don't explore the entirety of Andromeda in the game, just the Helius Cluster. Travel between planets in Mass Effect has always been done with their FTL drives, so the mass relays are largely unnecessary for the game in this context.
Hallelujah for synth-based ME1 songs!
I just wish we still had Uncharted Worlds playing in the map screen for full immersion.
Erm what? That was taken care of in ME3. Reapers are just tools, they aren't going to do anything after that ME3 ending.
Metroidvania
People called Romanes they go the house?
No one in Andromeda knows that, though. All of those ships left just before the start of ME3.
Mr. Phellps
Member
The Arks were launched prior to ME3's ending.
Rellik
Member
Like the person above said, they set off before ME3. The threat was still there then.
The Andromeda initiative was started in 2171 which is like 12 years before the event of Mass Effect in 2183, no one even believed Reapers were real until like the end of Mass Effect 2/start of Mass Effect 3 which was year 2186. It doesn't really make sense to launch a project as big, costly and ambitious as that to get away from Reapers when barely anyone even believed their existence.
And they launched the Andromeda initiative just a year before ME3 ended, they might as well have called them all back if reapers were the reason for them to leave lol.
shinobi602
Member
No, there's a distinction in their crest and facial features. Females have softer features and smaller crests versus males. The only female in ME3 was Eve.
ME3 took place over the course of 6 months. It started and ended after the Andromeda Initative was gone
I'm not talking about this game itself in particular. I'm talking about the future from a lore point of view. They were sent to Andromeda to colonise the galaxy over several generations.
But even in the far far future like say 1000 years after they start colonising they'll still be without Mass Relays as it's so far beyond anything they can do and they'd be travelling for months if not years to get from one place to another. They can't possibly hope to "colonise andromeda" with that sort of speed and will be limited to a small space. Small space they they can probably find in Milky Way itself.
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