GordianKnot
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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Post by GordianKnot on Mar 3, 2017 19:52:16 GMT
Yeah, the thing is: we got a multitude of f/f love interests in the trilogy. But there's a reason why no one says their main love interest was, say, Diana Allers. A very small minority of f/f players even bother to go for Samara, Kelly, or Diana just because they literally have little to no content. And Traynor doesn't have that much either, besides being infamously male-gazey and only showing up in the last game. So that just leaves us with Liara. We're worried the same thing could happen here, where our only substantial option is another young asari squadmate that's in all the marketing. I wouldn't go so far as to say "a multitude." Kelly and Traynor were minor characters with no real personalities or significance to the larger story. I get the impression that the only reason Traynor and Cortez even existed was so Bioware could be like "look how progressive we are -- giving people same-sex romance options." The game/story would not have been much different without them. Which leaves us with Liara (and apparently Samara -- is that part of the Citadel DLC content or something?). I'm probably in the minority, but I don't like having asari thrown at us continuously as "look you can be a space lesbian" options. Sure, they look female and talk like female (humans), but it would be really nice to have a human female squadmate romance option (for Sara). I know I can't be the only one who just isn't intrigued by banging aliens.
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GordianKnot
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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Post by GordianKnot on Mar 2, 2017 2:34:39 GMT
2) Dumbed down combat system. There is a glaring difference between streamlining a concept and dumbing it down. Mileage may wary among each and every single one of us, but imo, Andromeda combat system, as we have seen it, is dumbed down from ME3. You can try and sell me the overpowered combos theory, the console friendly approach or the more fluid action to compensate, but I rest my case: imo, Andromeda combat system has been made as it is, to create a copy to the multiplayer experience. Profiles swapping is functionally USELESS, if bonus from one can’t be carried over when swapping: pets despawn (among the others) and I’m sure as hell that when I’ll pop barrier and switch over, the shield bonus will be lost too. So, this gimmick is again a fig leaf to cover the fact that yes, we have only 3 powers at the same time in every combat situation, with all the limits this implies. It disturbs me more the fact that someone (many) tried to hid it, instead of being honest with this direction of gameplay design, and even then the results are quite apparent: the less we talk about the implication in universe and lore wise about a brain plugged AI able to reconfigure your very body functions on the fly (more or less), the better. For what hellish reasons biotics should not be accessible while using tech powers? And where the hell the eezo came from, if our Ryder wasn’t a biotic before Andromeda? And so on and on and on… But wow, we can jump jet now! The rest of the concept around our main character during combat doesn’t make a shred of sense in universe, but we can jump so hiiiighhh! Fig leaves to hid the leveling of the game experience to the lowest common denominator: multiplayer. Which again, it’s not a bad thing per se: but it could have been done a lot better imo, enriching the experience with smarter mobs (for instance) instead of the usual bullet sponges. Another squandered occasion. So my impressions on both plot and combat are less than favorable at the moment (of course, based on the material we have at the moment). What instead for the moment I do appreciate are the characters (Peebee not included so, 5/6): it seems that in that regard, Bioware is still willingly to create companions coherent with all the information provided in universe and make them great, without compromises. Bravo! This is how it should be! That's a good point, and makes me more hesitant/wary. I hope combat isn't reliant on "combos," especially if you can't combat pause and select abilities/targets for your squadmates (bringing us back to the question: "Has Mass Effect basically become a JRPG?") Basically, I hope that "infiltrators" (or, since there are no classes, Ryders that use TC/sniper rifles/stealth-based combat tactics) can still be as powerful and effective as biotics. One more reason to hold off buying until I read the reviews...
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GordianKnot
N2
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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Post by GordianKnot on Mar 1, 2017 9:20:23 GMT
Mostly the story, and exploration (or lack thereof). I dislike JRPG's (which is basically what ME3 was -- I felt kind of dirty after playing it upon coming to that realization lol). ME1 had plenty of meaningful/interesting content outside of the main quest, ME2 had some -- so those felt more like traditional RPG's. Either way, I'm not making the mistake of pre-ordering anything from Bioware again -- after the first week I'll read the reviews and then decide if it's worth my time.
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GordianKnot
N2
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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Post by GordianKnot on Feb 26, 2017 9:44:23 GMT
I won't lie that I'm a bit disappointed with only six. Mass Effect 2 really did spoil us with it's wide selection it seems seeing as none of the instalments since have yet to match it's companion roster. Though that might explain why it's still two companions on missions instead of three. That said has there been any indication from devs that there definitely won't be one or two more companions outside the "starters?" ME2 had lots of companion choices, sure, but how many people actually used all of them equally? Jack, Tali, Zaeed, Kasumi, and Jacob barely ever left the ship (aside from their loyalty missions). From a tactical standpoint, it doesn't make sense to have several squadmates who basically have the same function in combat. Plus, I think adding squadmates just to give us more to choose from would likely be done at the expense of giving said squadmates deep/meaningful/interesting personalities/backstories (see: Jacob).
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GordianKnot
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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Post by GordianKnot on Feb 26, 2017 8:01:46 GMT
Coors Light is actually not that bad
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GordianKnot
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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February 2017
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Post by GordianKnot on Feb 26, 2017 7:43:06 GMT
He never said MEA character animation are equal to The Sims 3. Read again and understand why the author is saying before running to dismiss his view. He is only saying that the looks of MEA character reminded him of The Sims 3 and is not what he expected from a 2017 release. Again, I saw the actual video where she made the ridiculous comment. She also claimed the shooting was terrible and called MEA a "bro shooter" because she couldn't damage enemies with guns, yet she wasn't even specialized to be a soldier... No. I don't really take anything she says to be truthful or remotely credible. Feel free to actually view the video, rather than looking at whatever transcription you are viewing. (6:27 is about the point where she makes her crazy comments about the facial animations looking like The Sims 3) Even she admits she probably was playing other games with better facial animations that her comments were over-the-top. She seemed to have a positive impression of the world design/landscape though, so that's encouraging. Calling it a "Bro shooter" is something I take with a grain of salt, but at the same time, it does make me wary. To me, saying it's a "bro shooter" compared to ME1 could just mean the combat mechanics are better and more focused. I enjoyed the combat mechanics of ME2 and ME3, but I hated the ME3 campaign because it railroaded you into a poorly thought out storyline with cut-scenes long enough to make dinner/take a crap/walk the dog like a crappy JRPG. In the end, I play games for the stories. And after ME3 I don't trust anything Mac Walters does, so I'll just be waiting until after it comes out to read what people have to say about it after they've actually played it. Some crappy set of armor and a paint job for the Nomad aren't nearly important enough for me to potentially risk actually paying for a JRPG again.
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GordianKnot
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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Post by GordianKnot on Feb 25, 2017 4:43:17 GMT
The idea is that, no matter what BioWare does, non-straight people will never be happy. Some users on tumblr are the ones that seem to use the most varied terms for gender and sexuality. Pretty much, thanks for clarifying... not judging, mind you, I just think people should chill more and learn to value what they get, is all. I get your point, but telling people to "value what they get" (in reference to deep and meaningful same-sex romance options in Bioware games) is kind of arrogant and rude. It's like telling a bunch of skiers/snowboarders during the worst winter in decades to be happy with the one weekend where it actually snowed some, or someone who took a vacation to a beach resort and it rained the whole time except one day to be happy with that one day (weird analogies, I know, but hopefully it gets the point across). If the game/experience is largely disappointing, having one non-disappointing moment/day isn't going to make it less disappointing. Romance options don't really make or break the game for me -- sure, there are specific characters that I'd like to be able to romance, but if the game as a whole is interesting and immersive and has elements of a story I can get into, I'll probably enjoy it regardless. However, I'd like to be able to develop deep, meaningful friend relationships with squamates and characters that I can't/don't want to romance. That's kinda how the FemShep/Garrus romance felt to me in ME2/3 (even though it was technically a "romance"), and I'd like more of that. I could see a male Shepard developing a deep "brothers in arms," type connection with someone like Garrus, unfortunately the only way you experience that type of connection with another character in the original trilogy was to be in a romance with them.
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GordianKnot
N2
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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Post by GordianKnot on Feb 25, 2017 1:00:14 GMT
I've not lifted much at all so I'm no expert. But what of Crossfit? I'm kinda fascinated by it. It looks crazy but also effective. Then I ran into this video: (didn't feel the need to repost the vid in a quote) It seems there's no way in hell they're natural. But I think the random nature of the Crossfit routine would be very effective. Even back in my highschool fitness class, this was the theme. Don't do the same thing over and over. It really depends on what your fitness/performance goals are. For most athletes, adding in a Crossfit-style workout once a week is probably beneficial. But the gym memberships are pretty expensive, and it's hard to justify $150 a month or more for something used that infrequently. Doing it more than that -- well, you'll be good at doing Crossfit. But it won't develop sport/activity-specific skills or increase your cardio/endurance level. Admittedly, I used to drink the Crossfit/paleo diet koolaid -- and I won't pretend that I didn't benefit in some ways from that. But I'm leaner and fitter now than I was when I was doing that, so, ::shrug::
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GordianKnot
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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February 2017
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Post by GordianKnot on Feb 22, 2017 21:16:09 GMT
I liked the added defense layers -- it helped make it more important to choose your squadmates tactically (i.e. bring biotic squad mates when fighting the Collectors, bring tech squadmates when fighting enemies with shields, etc).
ME2 insanity was frustrating *IF* you didn't have a good strategy for playing your class. However, if you did, it was pretty doable for most classes (I don't think I ever played as an engineer though so I can't speak to that one). ME3 insanity was stupidly easy.
From what's been revealed, it sounds like ME:A insanity will be challenging but in a good/well-thought out way. I liked the noticeable improvement in enemy AI that Battlefield 1 had on Hard, hopefully ME:A will be similar in that respect.
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GordianKnot
N2
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins
Posts: 61 Likes: 129
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February 2017
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Post by GordianKnot on Feb 22, 2017 20:21:39 GMT
That's......disgusting. Also vile, crude, offensive, revolting..... Not everyone has the humor of a 12 year old boy. So, those of you with that type of humor, have at it. Oh, lighten up. I'm pretty sure there were some special CAH expansions released at PAX a couple years ago, I seem to remember one of them featuring Commander Shepard. However, CAH gets old pretty fast, and given that ME-specific cards would only be funny to people who have played the game (everyone else would just treat them as burn" cards), I don't think it would be remotely worth it to buy these.
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