Bjorn

Mass Effect Andromeda - Thumb Drive Engaged!

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I ran a very boring Space Soldier in the original trilogy, until MP introduced me to space wizardry and particularly Biotic Charge.  My replay of 3 was as a mad space wizard, and with the expansion of melee as a weapon class, I'm very much looking forward to playing a mad space wizard with a Big Fucking Hammer. 

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I get the sense that the more open ended design of the abilities system is a response to the criticism of ME 2 and 3 that people were taking certain companions into the field with them purely because they needed access to one ability or another.  That's a nice change on a narrative level but I'm wary of the obvious drawbacks of a system like this, as well as the generally unfocused nature the combat seems to have from the few gameplay videos we've seen.  Mass effect has always felt like a series that was defined as much by what it left out as what it put in, so I hope this new direction isn't as unfocused as it initially appears to be.

 

I know they haven't gone over the narrative all that much, but I'm really hoping there is an element of the game focused on factional politics on the ark, the establishment of settlements, or being the first people to touch down on a surface.  So far from everything we've seen, each of these things seems to have already happened before the player gets there-- Colonies are established, rebellions have already happened, and so on.  I really was hoping andromeda would make exploration a part of mass effect again, but this structure seems more like an excuse for combat scenarios to me more than anything else.

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I personally took Mordin at all times in ME2 because I desperately needed access to talk to Mordin at any moment.

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38 minutes ago, Badfinger said:

I personally took Mordin at all times in ME2 because I desperately needed access to talk to Mordin at any moment.

 

This is the the right and true way to play ME2. 

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Because of the dumb "pick your alignment before you play" nature of the original trilogy... a choice involving Mordin in ME3 went a way that I truly did not want it to as a player. I still feel like shit any time I think about it. He was the very model of a scientist salarian.

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17 minutes ago, Gwardinen said:

Because of the dumb "pick your alignment before you play" nature of the original trilogy... a choice involving Mordin in ME3 went a way that I truly did not want it to as a player. I still feel like shit any time I think about it. He was the very model of a scientist salarian.

 

Which way did it go?  I'm curious how people see which is the good and which is the bad outcome for him.

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So my original ME trilogy playthrough is as a renegade, which means:

 

Spoiler

I shot him. After everything we'd been through in ME2, after him becoming such a favourite companion of mine, when his conscience compelled him to undo his crimes (justified or otherwise), I shot him in the back. I watched him try with his dying breath to free the people he felt he'd wronged, and fail, because of me.

 

It was totally fucked up and one of the few times a game has ever made me feel genuine regret. Which itself might actually be an argument for the system pushing you into choices, but ultimately that was kind of a fluke of numbers and interesting content aligning. Hopefully Andromeda will (like the Witcher) manage to get me to make difficult choices without needing it to be backed up by +2 Renegade points popups.

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Holy shit, I didn't know that's where the renegade path led.  I know I started a renegade playthrough on ME3, but I'm not sure I ever finished it.  Or if I did and that happened, maybe it didn't stick since my canonical playthrough was as a goody-two shoes. 

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I recommend watching it on YouTube. I remember it being a pretty well shot scene. Certainly it stuck with me long enough... though I imagine the impact will be lessened if it's not you making the decision for your version of Shepard.

 

This week is a horrible stressful mess of work for me, but knowing that Andromeda early access starts next Thursday is helping me pull through it!

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Oh man, yeah that was such a rough decision, I forget the  circumstances of it, but I remember making the "bad" choice, for the good reason which made it even more bitter for me  (which is totally cool).

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I bought Andromeda on GreenManGaming, but I don't think I'm going to jump in on the early access. I have time to be patient.

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Gonna leave this here for you, Bjorn. I believe it will be relevant to your interests.

 

 

 

The basic loop looks cool, and the way they've attached it to singleplayer is potentially neat (although also potentially kind of irrelevant). I admit to a little worry about those consumables on the d-pad, though. Are they going to be easily earnable in-game or is this the microtransaction hook?

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ME3 multiplayer had consumables like that. They were a possible drop from the gear crates that you could buy, either with in-game credits or real money. From the brief look at the menu, it seems that the consumables are available for individual purchase, but weapons and characters are still in random boxes, which is pretty much the only thing I didn't like about ME3's unlock system.

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Yessssss, that all looks very good. 

 

On the consumables, it looks like they're using the same system as ME3, where you get consumables from the packs as you buy them.  Usually the only things that people ran out of in ME3 were self-revives, maybe rockets once in awhile.  But eventually you could cap your stock of the ammo packs and health restore, so the only things you were getting from packs were rockets and self-revives. 

 

I was hoping for more than 5 maps to start with, that could get old, but hopefully the first expansion comes out relatively soon.  The map locations and designs are very reminiscent of what's in ME3, but prettier and generally look a little more complex. 

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Unless I break down and can't help myself once it's downloaded, I'm planning on being on throughout Sunday.  Probably early afternoon, like 1ish Central, would be probably be a good time. 

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That works for me! I should also say I'm on PC. I should also also say that there is a non zero chance I will just blow through all my playtime as well so no guarantees. :P

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I'm on PC too, and I have no clue what my Origin ID is.  I'll have to look it up tonight. 

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Sorry butt I posted first which means you have to spend an hour updating Origin and send ME the friend request. It's like calling dibs but for not having to remember how to do things in Origin. ;)

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Haha, I sent you a request, Vulpes. My Origin ID is Gwardinen if anyone else wants to add me - I'm totally up for a multiplayer match this weekend, unless I've spent my whole 10 hours by then. Singleplayer progress is gated in early access, though, so I probably won't have.

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Oh boy, I haven't finished ME3 yet. I guess this weekend is the marathon.

 

I'm not in EA access, but I'm looking forward to playing with folks on Tuesday.

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