Post by talldarin on Mar 30, 2017 17:21:27 GMT
Mass Effect : Andromda finished.
Here is my full review of the game.
~ 80 hours spent and around 93% complete minus some tasks that simply require some scanning of different objects and some not very important things that would only ruin the journey if i go back and forth to scan some Outlaw corpses for 200 XP or some still warm ship hull from random crashes around Helius. I consider the game fully completed with all the quests done.
The journey.
The game for me was a blast. The journey as a whole was really worth it. A superb experience that could have been enchanced with better facial animations, longer cutscenes, a little more serious conversations in some cases and perhaps a longer main story.
The moment i started the 2 last main missions i really felt like this is a proper Mass Effect game and at the last mission i was entombed in shivers, happyness and joy that i'm actually playing a Mass Effect game. I cannot talk much about the ending without spoilers but i can say it was satisfying and exactly what i needed. Some loose ends ? Perhaps, BUT it was exactly how it should be, too much explaining would have just ruined the experience, so the loose ends are perfect, i mean, you can't just know everything about an entire galaxy in such a short time as an explorer can you now ?
The Bridge.
First i told myself that ok, we have a new Mass Effect. A new ,,Shepard'' and a new universe, fresh start, no links to previous Mass Effect and i was curious how that will work out. Yet i was wrong again. Close to the ending of the game is all the good stuff waiting for you. You find out what actually happened in the Mily Way. Why everyone left, who made it possible, some easter eggs here and there. There is a great bridge linking the previous ME games with this one, and it is PERFECT. Not too much explaining but enough to make you think....,,what if ?'' ,,Is that who i think it is ?'' ,,So thats why !?''.
The Plot.
You are Scott Ryder. You join the Initiative to travel 600 years from the Mily Way and leave everything behind along with your sister Sara and your father Alec Ryder ( Former N7 badass ) to explore a new galaxy. Andromeda, the Helius Cluster. No spoilers --> Forward Forward. You are given the title of Pathfinder and encounter a new race. The Kett. First i thought it was the generic bad guys that want to kill everything. Wrong again ! They are smart, cunning and know exactly what they are doing. And no its not just killing folk because they are the ,,bad guy'' there is a lot more to it than that. So now you must venture into the unknown with your new ship The Tempest and your new crew to find a new home in the Helius Cluster. Do you find it when you get there ? Can you establish a new home ? Play the game and find out.
The Crew.
Liam Kosta 78/100
A former cop that left everything behind to travel 600 years for a fresh start, sounds generic. Until i got more into his story and found out more about the guy. After finishing his loialty mission i have to say it was amazing, i had the best laughs and it was totally a blast. He wants to entertain the crew and is screwing up most of the time but in a cute / funny way.
Cora Harper 65/100
Pretty generic. Former Asari commando ( altough she is human )
Biotics expert and pretty badass to have around. Simple story, straight forward, she is a good addition to the team
Vetra Nyx 75/100
The badass female turian that will do anything for her sister Sid, which is damn reckless and wants to follow in her footsteps. She completes the team and fills the shoes of Garrus. I like this one.
Jaal Ama Darav 98/100
One of the best character developments in the history of Mass Effect. A new race ( The Angara ) that can't keep his feelings hidden and is a mix between total badass and sentiment. While he cannot keep his feelings to himself and is wide open he is a serious punch that you want around. I had some great times with Jaal, from jokes, to learning his traditions, to his family. Everything was really well done and good job to Bioware from bringing this new Angaren addition to the team.
Pelessaria B'Sayle ( Or in short Peebee ) 85/100
While many thing she is annoying, i ended up romancing her because i found her really interesting and cute. A breath of fresh air in the team, the cute, reckless and all in for adventure Asari is a great addition to the team, shadowing the others with her attitude and obsession with alien tech and knowladge. A great engineer and a funny character.
Drack. 80/100
I love Drack, everything loves Drack. A grumpy old krogan vet that still has a few tricks to learn and slowly gets fond of the team. He is a total badass. He is a perfect replacement for Wrex in the previous games. Everything i did in the game decision wise was making this guy happy ? Why ? Who wants a krogan on their bad side really ? The bar fight scene was epic, funny and sad moments with this guy. So whatever you do outlaws of Helius, don't fuck with the Pathfinder. Why ? Well....he has Krogan.
Suvi 50/100
I didn't really like Suvi. She is religious and friendly and while she doesn't lick rocks and gets diseases she is ok to hang around and a smart addition the The Tempest team. But that is pretty much it.
Kallo 90/100
I loved this guys. The salarian pilot that you can crack jokes with and always a pleasure to talk and to hang around with. Open minded, not an uptight asshole like some salarians out there. I'm looking at you Tann, you ass.
Gil 30/100
Gambler, engineer, and a pretty boring character, worst if you ask me. Dull is giving him too much credit. There are some good missions for him and some great moments especially when you cheat at poker to get those credits from him but they are way too few to count and matter.
SAM 90/100
Your new AI implemented in your head that helps you 90% of the time that makes scanning / gathering knowledge, hacking, opening doors, outcomes and cheating to poker possible.
A great addition to the team that help you all fight the big fight and have a damn great adventure in Andromeda.
New Races :
The Kett :
,,The bad guys''. That have something planned for the new galaxy and have more to hide then you think. Few enemies is a minus in their case but it doesn't have such a big impact on the overall journey.
The Archon ( their leader ) Is a total badass. Smart, cunning and calculated. You find out more about these guys as you progress, from stories, from Angaran past experiences etc. Can't talk much about these guys without spoilers.
The Remnant :
An ancient race that has monoliths and Vaults scattered all over Helius Cluster that can make life possible and terraform planets. Making viability much more possible and a new home closer than you think. They are mainly robots, or at least the ones that remain, the ,,guardians'' that remain.
The Angaren :
While we don't see Quarians, Geth and Drell we have a new race the angaren which are really awesome, wise, opened and badass but a little careful about trusting you and your intentions. They are not the invaders this time. You are. Can you reach out to them ? Win their trust ? Wait and see.
Pros and cons.
+ Mass Effect journey
+ Mass Effect feeling
+ Story
+ Exploration
+ Open world
+ Decent cutscenes
+ Funny conversations
+ Loialty missions
+ The Archon
+ Jaal
+ Peebee
+ The Remnant
+ Angaren
+ the crew moments ( Movie night, Speeches, interactions )
+ SAM
+ Strong side quests
+ Crafting
+ A lot to explore !
+ Planets
+ Link between previous ME games and this one
- Poor animations
- Few enemies
- Short lived cutscenes
- Poor club designs
- Poor sense of celebration
- Sometimes childish conversations
- Lack of Quarians / Drell and Geth
- Lack of crew member customization
- Lack of character depth in some cases
- Pointless tasks
- Few bugs and glitches
The Verdict ?
A good Mass Effect game !
I give it a 84 / 100.
Better than ME 3 and worse than ME 1 & 2.
The game could have been a lot better but it hit the mark and left me with a really good taste in my mouth.
The game was gunned down because of the poor facial animations.
Could they have done better ? Yes, why ? Because i seen what they did with The Archon's facial animations and it was mind blowing good.
Get pass these few issues and you got a great outstanding game.
A strong RPG that should not be skipped by any Mass Effect fan.
Here is my full review of the game.
~ 80 hours spent and around 93% complete minus some tasks that simply require some scanning of different objects and some not very important things that would only ruin the journey if i go back and forth to scan some Outlaw corpses for 200 XP or some still warm ship hull from random crashes around Helius. I consider the game fully completed with all the quests done.
The journey.
The game for me was a blast. The journey as a whole was really worth it. A superb experience that could have been enchanced with better facial animations, longer cutscenes, a little more serious conversations in some cases and perhaps a longer main story.
The moment i started the 2 last main missions i really felt like this is a proper Mass Effect game and at the last mission i was entombed in shivers, happyness and joy that i'm actually playing a Mass Effect game. I cannot talk much about the ending without spoilers but i can say it was satisfying and exactly what i needed. Some loose ends ? Perhaps, BUT it was exactly how it should be, too much explaining would have just ruined the experience, so the loose ends are perfect, i mean, you can't just know everything about an entire galaxy in such a short time as an explorer can you now ?
The Bridge.
First i told myself that ok, we have a new Mass Effect. A new ,,Shepard'' and a new universe, fresh start, no links to previous Mass Effect and i was curious how that will work out. Yet i was wrong again. Close to the ending of the game is all the good stuff waiting for you. You find out what actually happened in the Mily Way. Why everyone left, who made it possible, some easter eggs here and there. There is a great bridge linking the previous ME games with this one, and it is PERFECT. Not too much explaining but enough to make you think....,,what if ?'' ,,Is that who i think it is ?'' ,,So thats why !?''.
The Plot.
You are Scott Ryder. You join the Initiative to travel 600 years from the Mily Way and leave everything behind along with your sister Sara and your father Alec Ryder ( Former N7 badass ) to explore a new galaxy. Andromeda, the Helius Cluster. No spoilers --> Forward Forward. You are given the title of Pathfinder and encounter a new race. The Kett. First i thought it was the generic bad guys that want to kill everything. Wrong again ! They are smart, cunning and know exactly what they are doing. And no its not just killing folk because they are the ,,bad guy'' there is a lot more to it than that. So now you must venture into the unknown with your new ship The Tempest and your new crew to find a new home in the Helius Cluster. Do you find it when you get there ? Can you establish a new home ? Play the game and find out.
The Crew.
Liam Kosta 78/100
A former cop that left everything behind to travel 600 years for a fresh start, sounds generic. Until i got more into his story and found out more about the guy. After finishing his loialty mission i have to say it was amazing, i had the best laughs and it was totally a blast. He wants to entertain the crew and is screwing up most of the time but in a cute / funny way.
Cora Harper 65/100
Pretty generic. Former Asari commando ( altough she is human )
Biotics expert and pretty badass to have around. Simple story, straight forward, she is a good addition to the team
Vetra Nyx 75/100
The badass female turian that will do anything for her sister Sid, which is damn reckless and wants to follow in her footsteps. She completes the team and fills the shoes of Garrus. I like this one.
Jaal Ama Darav 98/100
One of the best character developments in the history of Mass Effect. A new race ( The Angara ) that can't keep his feelings hidden and is a mix between total badass and sentiment. While he cannot keep his feelings to himself and is wide open he is a serious punch that you want around. I had some great times with Jaal, from jokes, to learning his traditions, to his family. Everything was really well done and good job to Bioware from bringing this new Angaren addition to the team.
Pelessaria B'Sayle ( Or in short Peebee ) 85/100
While many thing she is annoying, i ended up romancing her because i found her really interesting and cute. A breath of fresh air in the team, the cute, reckless and all in for adventure Asari is a great addition to the team, shadowing the others with her attitude and obsession with alien tech and knowladge. A great engineer and a funny character.
Drack. 80/100
I love Drack, everything loves Drack. A grumpy old krogan vet that still has a few tricks to learn and slowly gets fond of the team. He is a total badass. He is a perfect replacement for Wrex in the previous games. Everything i did in the game decision wise was making this guy happy ? Why ? Who wants a krogan on their bad side really ? The bar fight scene was epic, funny and sad moments with this guy. So whatever you do outlaws of Helius, don't fuck with the Pathfinder. Why ? Well....he has Krogan.
Suvi 50/100
I didn't really like Suvi. She is religious and friendly and while she doesn't lick rocks and gets diseases she is ok to hang around and a smart addition the The Tempest team. But that is pretty much it.
Kallo 90/100
I loved this guys. The salarian pilot that you can crack jokes with and always a pleasure to talk and to hang around with. Open minded, not an uptight asshole like some salarians out there. I'm looking at you Tann, you ass.
Gil 30/100
Gambler, engineer, and a pretty boring character, worst if you ask me. Dull is giving him too much credit. There are some good missions for him and some great moments especially when you cheat at poker to get those credits from him but they are way too few to count and matter.
SAM 90/100
Your new AI implemented in your head that helps you 90% of the time that makes scanning / gathering knowledge, hacking, opening doors, outcomes and cheating to poker possible.
A great addition to the team that help you all fight the big fight and have a damn great adventure in Andromeda.
New Races :
The Kett :
,,The bad guys''. That have something planned for the new galaxy and have more to hide then you think. Few enemies is a minus in their case but it doesn't have such a big impact on the overall journey.
The Archon ( their leader ) Is a total badass. Smart, cunning and calculated. You find out more about these guys as you progress, from stories, from Angaran past experiences etc. Can't talk much about these guys without spoilers.
The Remnant :
An ancient race that has monoliths and Vaults scattered all over Helius Cluster that can make life possible and terraform planets. Making viability much more possible and a new home closer than you think. They are mainly robots, or at least the ones that remain, the ,,guardians'' that remain.
The Angaren :
While we don't see Quarians, Geth and Drell we have a new race the angaren which are really awesome, wise, opened and badass but a little careful about trusting you and your intentions. They are not the invaders this time. You are. Can you reach out to them ? Win their trust ? Wait and see.
Pros and cons.
+ Mass Effect journey
+ Mass Effect feeling
+ Story
+ Exploration
+ Open world
+ Decent cutscenes
+ Funny conversations
+ Loialty missions
+ The Archon
+ Jaal
+ Peebee
+ The Remnant
+ Angaren
+ the crew moments ( Movie night, Speeches, interactions )
+ SAM
+ Strong side quests
+ Crafting
+ A lot to explore !
+ Planets
+ Link between previous ME games and this one
- Poor animations
- Few enemies
- Short lived cutscenes
- Poor club designs
- Poor sense of celebration
- Sometimes childish conversations
- Lack of Quarians / Drell and Geth
- Lack of crew member customization
- Lack of character depth in some cases
- Pointless tasks
- Few bugs and glitches
The Verdict ?
A good Mass Effect game !
I give it a 84 / 100.
Better than ME 3 and worse than ME 1 & 2.
The game could have been a lot better but it hit the mark and left me with a really good taste in my mouth.
The game was gunned down because of the poor facial animations.
Could they have done better ? Yes, why ? Because i seen what they did with The Archon's facial animations and it was mind blowing good.
Get pass these few issues and you got a great outstanding game.
A strong RPG that should not be skipped by any Mass Effect fan.
