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March 28, 2024, 10:10:39 PM

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The Mass Effect Games

Started by Barry Admin, August 02, 2018, 04:43:55 PM

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Barry Admin

I picked up Andromeda for 6 quid there, mostly to play the multiplayer. ME3 had a surprisingly effective Horde mode that was massively enjoyable. MEA so far doesn't seem quite as good, the profession is all tied to loot boxes in the hope that you buy micro transactions, but the core gameplay just doesn't have the same urgency and fluidity as I remember with ME3. Mind you, I'm still only on bronze games, so we'll see how it goes as I rank up and try the more difficult tiers.

Inevitably, I've ended up starting off the single player campaign. I'm wondering do I need to know how ME3 ended? Cause I never got that far, it's one of those games where I sank a lot of time in and then drifted off to do something else.

I am kind of thinking of digging the disc out and playing it again. But then I wouldn't remember much about the first two games at this point in time...

I did this with Dragon Age a few months ago too, started a whole new play through, was totally engrossed, got near the end, then drifted off.

How do you think these games hold up now? Has anyone played through the original triology recently?

The Culture Bunker

As I remember it, Andromeda starts before ME3, so the events don't really relate. Good excuse for a clean slate to lure in new gamers, I imagine. I did enjoy the original trilogy, being a sucker for a good sci-fi tale. Sure, the ending wasn't all that but, hey, it's all about the journey, not the destination. Or something.

Personally, I didn't find Andromeda the absolute horror show plenty did, but I've zero feelings about going back to it the way I did the PS3 games. Indeed, there's a couple of other franchises that have lost my interests between the jump from PS3-PS4 - Fallout, the Arkham series - though Dragon Age: Inquisition was a lot of fun.

Bazooka

Yeah enjoyed the first 3, Andromeda barely introduced any new mechanics and the fact you can't be evil is total horseshit, would never play it again in my life.

bgmnts

Andromeda is fucking shit and I hate it. Its just EA being cunts.

St_Eddie

I've got the first three games for my PS3 but I've never been able to truly get into them.  I've played the first two twice now, so I definitely given it a fair shake.  Give me Knights of the Old Republic, any day of the week.

Lemming

There's something about Mass Effect that's always alienated me from it. Just something I can't put my finger on about the way it's written, none of the characters come across as sympathetic or relatable at all.

Here's a really detailed retrospective on the whole trilogy. The guy writing it (who likes the series much more than I do) is really nitpicky and a lot of his criticisms don't ring true, but for anyone who's played the series it's an interesting read that goes into a lot of depth about the setting and why certain things might and might not work.

Bazooka

I don't know if I would personally read too much into it, I played into the series off the back of Knights of the Old Republic and it was the next best thing to follow the mould (Bioware staff involvement). I don't even care for the Star Wars films that much but love the universe and all the games.

The combat was ok, but the RPG elements were fun as in KoTor, but Andromeda is simply dull in all regards.

Mister Six

Quote from: Lemming on August 03, 2018, 05:13:20 AM
There's something about Mass Effect that's always alienated me from it. Just something I can't put my finger on about the way it's written, none of the characters come across as sympathetic or relatable at all.

Not even Morden?!

QuoteHere's a really detailed retrospective on the whole trilogy. The guy writing it (who likes the series much more than I do) is really nitpicky and a lot of his criticisms don't ring true, but for anyone who's played the series it's an interesting read that goes into a lot of depth about the setting and why certain things might and might not work.

It all rang true for me, although I never played ME3. But the shift from galaxy-exploring adventure as a Spectre to working for a terrorist organisation with no clear goals and inconsistent backstory because the Alliance ignored what literally happened in their chambers at the end of ME1 in particular really stuck in my craw.

It's like ISIS attacked the UN building in New York, but immediately afterwards everyone at the UN denied ISIS existed, forcing you to run off and join Al Qaida. That's how much sense the plot makes.

Barry Admin

I'm playing Andromeda on insane, and have yet to finish the first planet. Maybe cause of that, or because of low expectations, I'm kind of enjoying it so far. But I'm not even through the prologue, I realise.

Enjoying the multiplayer, although melee does seem OP. I go in as an infiltrator with a heavy sniper, and you just see all these bastards zipping around the screen stealing all the kills with the "charge" ability. It does push me to make my shots a lot quicker though.

As obnoxious as the loot box shit obviously is, it does keep you grinding very effectively. I keep having "one more go" so I can buy my next two basic packs and hopefully receive a sniper rifle upgrade.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: Mister Six on August 03, 2018, 01:12:50 PM
Not even Morden?!

It all rang true for me, although I never played ME3. But the shift from galaxy-exploring adventure as a Spectre to working for a terrorist organisation with no clear goals and inconsistent backstory because the Alliance ignored what literally happened in their chambers at the end of ME1 in particular really stuck in my craw.

It's like ISIS attacked the UN building in New York, but immediately afterwards everyone at the UN denied ISIS existed, forcing you to run off and join Al Qaida. That's how much sense the plot makes.
It probably helped me that I'd never played the first one before ME2. I just saw it for sale one day and thought "alright, let's give it a whirl" and had a rather wonderful time with it.

And yeah, Morden is a dude and Tali was adorable. Too many characters in Andromeda, I just didn't give a fuck about.

Mister Six

ME2's gameplay is great and the characters are wonderful, as that very long article indeed says. As a game on its own it would be fine. It's trying to make it work within the ME1 universe that's the problem, as it's completely incoherent in that context.

But yeah, if you start with ME2 then none of that is obvious and everything's fine, pretty much.

bgmnts

I genuinely love the Mass Effect trilogy. There is something so warm and cosy about how cliché it is and all the characters are quite interesting and you get attached to them and it is just a fun adventure.

Benevolent Despot

The thing that impressed me most about the 1st game was its universe-building - backstory, species characteristics, politics, art style. The music was great and the story and dilemmas pretty solid. Gameplay from 1 through 3 was not very good but got better as the series progressed. However, while this was happening the story and characters regressed to the point that I didn't care. My attention drifted off during the final exposition at the end of 3 and I actually ended up picking the wrong final choice and got the ending I didn't want. Wahey. I played through the first one a few times but could care less about the others. Never even thought about getting Andromeda with all the negative press.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: bgmnts on August 03, 2018, 06:12:14 PM
I genuinely love the Mass Effect trilogy. There is something so warm and cosy about how cliché it is and all the characters are quite interesting and you get attached to them and it is just a fun adventure.
Sums it up for me. I give a fuck about the characters and enjoyed my Shepherd's relationships with them. The MS3 DLC when you get to piss about in the apartment on the Citadel was lots of fun. As escapist entertainment, it pushed the right buttons for me, and the acting (in the main part) was good quality too.

Barry Admin

I'm absolutely loving Andromeda! I started ranking up a melee class, after maxing out my infiltrator sniper, and I'm having a blast zipping round the maps twatting everything. I settled Eos in single player, and am finding the whole thing really engrossing and fun. Great movement, lots to do, and the multiplayer feeds into it pretty well. I've definitely got my 6 quids worth!

All the crappy animation seems to have been long patched, and I'm enjoying the story so far. Just seems kind of like the original trilogy, from what I remember of them. The only really awful bit of dialogue I've encountered so far was that one about someone's face being tired.

bgmnts

Tried replaying through 1 again and it didn't work. I think i have played through it all too many times now.