Prima guide, Pathfinder edition

http://www.mweb.co.za/games/view/tabid/4210/Article/28526/Mass-Effect-Andromeda-early-impressions-show-a-downgraded-terrible-game.aspx

Seems its a horrible game...

@BobTheThird - I doubt it'll be truly horrible but there are very few glowing previews. Recent Bioware games have had solid gameplay but it is the lore, characters and writing that have always made them stand out for me.

The fact so many previews have criticized the characters and writing has me worried this'll just end up being a competent third-person sci-fi shooter. That said, the opening hours of the original Mass Effect were an awful representation of the rest of the game so I remain hopeful.

I've got the tiral downloading now so hoping to get some first-hand experience with it.

I would take that article with a grain of salt.
Could be click bait, I hope...

@Bob read the article. The entire thing is predicated on her impressions of other people's impressions. It even contradicts itself by bringing up the positive reviews. It is a poorly written piece. She also uses two pics to prove that there's a visual downgrade between reveal and game footage. I couldn't see the downgrade and she fails to point it out.

Having said that I am concerned, but before I make a decision I will play the trial this weekend and then decide.

I never liked the games anyway...was way to long and boring...sorry...if I offended now...

This game is generating some AC Unity like memes on the internet

Early Access version includes day one patch, any issues currently with build will only be patched later. Bethesda fans need not worry though

Having put 6 hours into the campaign and about 2 in multiplayer, Andromeda deserves the mixed reception it's getting.

I'll start with the multiplayer co-op as it is still fun and for anyone who enjoyed it in ME3, it remains identical. Classes are familiar with pre-defined powers that match those in ME3. Gameplay feels a little faster with the jump-jet and automatic cover mechanics but, overall, the horde-type waves and objectives waves play out in much the same way. It feels a little restricted at the moment with 5 maps and only 2 objectives rounds in shorter 7-round matches (down from 10 waves in ME3) but all future MP content is free, The random unlocks return, along with the ability to spend real money on these "loot crates".

The campaign, on the other hand, provides an opening sequence so boring I ended up putting on subtitles and skipping through most of the dialogue (which saves you from having to endure the facial animations and voice acting - they really are awful). I always considered the early Citadel sequence in ME1 the worst opening sequence in the original trilogy but at least quests were designed to introduce you to all the species, their distinct personalities, and societal rules. Andromeda assumes you know most of this already but instead of picking up the pace, it rather sends you on a string of dull fetch quests before you can get to your ship and start exploring.

Just before you reach the second open-world area "Eos", the game begins to hint at a connection to events before the launch of the initiative but, for the first half dozen hours, nothing exciting happening with regards to the plot. Sure, the first aliens you meet try to shoot you but that was always going to happen. The initiative launched around the same time as the end of ME2 but while characters might reference things like the Citadel, Geth and Genophage, there is no mention of the attack by Sovereign, nor anything about a Reaper/AI threat. Perhaps this will be expanded upon but so far the entire initiative appears to be made up of the universe's most sheltered, unobservant population.

Gameplay is fine - they've taken a lot of designs wholesale from DA:Inquistion - but the writing and characters need to improve drastically to keep the game from being anything other than a competent sci-fi third-person shooter.

They've also managed to make planet scanning slower than ME2, albeit a lot prettier.

"Mass Effect Andromeda falls short of its predecessors, but it's still a competently executed open-world action RPG with an interesting world and tons of quests to complete. Its biggest shame is that it doesn't make better use of its setting, opting instead to go with more of the same. Hopefully BioWare will be more ambitious when it comes time for the inevitable sequel. "

http://www.usgamer.net/articles/mass-effect-andromeda-review

See the reviews are coming out, lots of good scores, don't want to read too much into them, need to go in blind on this.

Getting some decent scores will pick it up at a later stage.

Much, much later stage for me.

Llurch has a good piece about how Mass Effect moved from an RPG with shooter mechanics, to a shooter with RPG mechanics. Check it out here!

Played a bit last night, will continue with it when I have wrapped up Horizon Zero Dawn.

Seems to me, Mass effect Andromeda is one of those games where the internet is harping on about 3 or 4 (patch fixable) issues instead of focusing on the hundreds of other aspects its doing so well.

I really keen to sit down and explore Andromeda will provide more feedback soon !bm

Runs just fine on my PS4 Pro. Haven't seen a single bug or anything. Game runs better than most AAA games on launch. Reviewers act as if the game is completely unplayable. It works just fine.

Got as far as the Nexus, enjoying it.

+ Liam and Cora are OK so far
+ Pretty game
+ Decent combat

- Facial animations look like everyone is in a Botox cult, this a regression from the previous games.
- logic, emotion etc decision matrix is rubbish, go back to Renegade/Paragon as in the previous games Bioware for any sequel
- Character creation: do it properly or don't do it at all.

` 8/10 game so far, problem is the other Mass Effect games were 9.5 or 10 out of 10.

SAFE TO BUY

@Scottie - I went with default Sara Ryder after giving up on character creation. Once again I prefer the female voice actor and they actually call her Sara (or Scott if you play as male Ryder).

My experience so far - Returned to the Nexus after the first open-world planet of Eos and just encountered the second alien race. Sticking to the Krogan and Turian teammates at the moment and enjoying the environments and combat.

Facial animation and inconsistent delivery continue to make some dialogue scenes awful to watch. It's as though they recorded dozens of lines individually with no context. Thankfully most major characters and teammates are decently voiced. I've recently installed ME1, 2 and 3 to see how they run on the X1 and, aside from ME1, this is definitely a step back. Worse than Dragon Age: Inquisition which was built in the same engine using the same toolset.

Thankfully, character movement is fluid and combat gets better once you start crafting new items and unlocking more skills. The linear quest segments also feel closer to the original mission design although they've rarely offered up anything other than pushing buttons and fighting waves of enemies as you go. Open world missions suffer as expected - the game happily repeats dialogue triggers and allows you to interact with objects in the environment from quests you've already completed. Minor quests, those indicated by an exclamation mark in a blue hexagon, can be safely skipped and you'll rarely miss any rewarding gameplay (unless you enjoy running back and forth scanning things).

Still waiting to see if they link any narrative back to the previous trilogy or at least make the Remnant tech and invading Kitt more than interesting.

After 15 hours (plus 10 hours spent on the trial), it feels like a competent but uninspired game in comparison to its predecessors. If you liked the structure of DA:Inquisition, you'll enjoy it. Otherwise approach with caution.