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Post by Hanako Ikezawa on Jan 4, 2023 1:56:43 GMT
I see you ignored the part where I explicitly state player choice matters to me. It may not matter to you if the player believes her/his choice isn't acknowleged, it's you wording it in a way that works for you so you can say the choice matters. Your. Choices. Were. Acknowledged. You. Overwriting. Your. Own. Choices. Does. Not. Change. That.
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Old Scientist Contrarian
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Post by alanc9 on Jan 4, 2023 2:08:12 GMT
Are you sure about choices mattering? Did you not say the genophage is cured, or at least hinted at being cured, in the green even if the player chose to sabotage it earlier in the game? So it's always cured in Synthesis? BFD. Why can't a later choice trump an earlier choice, if the relevant circumstances are appropriate? And that still leaves two other ending paths where the genophage stays uncured. (Assuming Mordin's shot, that is, since if he's alive the slides imply an eventual cure.) But this part, I agree with. I'm not particularly bothered by it, though. I've always felt that Bio needs to go the Fallout 2 route here. The FO2 Vault Dweller founded Arroyo, end of story. If your particular VD wouldn't have done that, so what?
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Post by alanc9 on Jan 4, 2023 2:12:36 GMT
You mean the same encounter where at first we don't understand what they are saying until the AI in our heads, one built with specifically things like this in mind, helped translate? Oh, you mean the plot device that automatically breaks down language and cultural barriers in an instant without us having the pain or pleasure of figuring it out on our own through dialogue choices or actions?
How careless of me not to remember such an impactful and incredible first contact moment. Exactly how should it have worked? I'm trying to imagine a way to conform to your expectations that wouldn't have been exceptionally annoying and unpopular, but iIm not coming up with anything. But you've had longer to work on the problem than I have. What's your design vision?
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Post by themikefest on Jan 4, 2023 2:29:57 GMT
It may not matter to you if the player believes her/his choice isn't acknowleged, it's you wording it in a way that works for you so you can say the choice matters. Your. Choices. Were. Acknowledged. You. Overwriting. Your. Own. Choices. Does. Not. Change. That. Really? When dumb dumb was talking about the green, it never mentioned it would overwrite anything the Commander did? If thing did mention the green would overwrite a choice you made earlier in the game, would you still choose it? Or would that depend on the choice it will overwrite?
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General Mahad
You'll be peeling goddamn potatoes for the rest of your miserable excuse for a military career!
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Post by General Mahad on Jan 4, 2023 4:02:44 GMT
Oh, you mean the plot device that automatically breaks down language and cultural barriers in an instant without us having the pain or pleasure of figuring it out on our own through dialogue choices or actions?
How careless of me not to remember such an impactful and incredible first contact moment. Exactly how should it have worked? I'm trying to imagine a way to conform to your expectations that wouldn't have been exceptionally annoying and unpopular, but iIm not coming up with anything. But you've had longer to work on the problem than I have. What's your design vision? Fine:
-Safely landed on snowy planet but can't take off due to planet-side shield that disables aerospace vehicles but you are not sure what's the cause.
-Defend the tempest as its the only source of shelter from hostiles or wild animals -Run into Jaal's group while going on a fetch quest who are also stuck -Both sides growing hostile because of the weather and misunderstandings -Get attacked by remnant, fight and retreat into a cave, try simple gestures and communications,
-Jaal's starts understanding that plus gets that you are not hostile
-His men still pissed off
-Jaal calms them down but they are still aggregated at Jaal for getting them trapped on the planet,
-You show through a diagram on your omni-tool that you are trying to get off the planet and Jaal understands by overlaying a diagram of the planet with his own and showing a large energy fluctuation.
-Both sides have a tense agreement to turn off the device but Jaal's second in command is very dismissive to you.
-You also rescue a friendly medic who Javik trusts immensely,
-Journey to the device offers opportunity for paragon actions like saving a Angaran from stepping on a trap that you detected with your omni tool or helping the medic with medigel.
-Jaal and you both start interacting and sharing words from respective languages -Some Angara start trusting you but 2nd in command still doesn't. -You and Javik get separated from team and fight your way to device. The medic ends up with your squad.
-Disable device after long boss battle with you directing Javik to fire or turn off an energy shielding panel while Javik warns you if the boss begins to use an area of attack that's not telegraphed as well as giving cover fire when requested.
-Javik gets heavily wounded and you carry him out; Jaal's Angara squad finds you and demands what happened in very loud and angry voices. You can either explain through what little of Angaran language you can through your optional dialogue choices and the Angarans that you saved will back you up. If not, the 2nd in command opens fires and you either fight with the friendly Angrans or all of them fight you.
-The yelling and commotion alerts your team and you get reunited with your team as well as the medic.
-You communicate with the medic and he tells you that Jaal needs surgery as soon as possible (the 2nd in command tells you that their shuttle is close and is manned).
-They radio for their picku
-You give the medic or 2nd in command, a chip or something that has a translator or milky way language in an easy to understand, the 2nd in command or medic gives you his own unlocked communicator or computer.
-The medic and Jaal (plus the surviving Angrarns) wait for the shuttle while you hurry back to yours. -The exchange of information allows for both the Initiative and the Angarans to establish two way communication. -Jaal becomes known as the one who helped establish communications between the Angarans and Initiative -If the 2nd in command lives and you meet with him, he says that he despises invaders but will fight with the initiative against the Kett. You tell him the enemy of my enemy saying and 2nd in command says he's glad they both understand each other and warns you against trying anything (joins in the final assault)
-Medic studies milky way combat medicine and medigel, his efforts leads to less Angarans dying and humans get insight into Angaran medicine that assists in development of energy fields with medigel that heals incredibly quickly (medical upgrade). -Snowy planet is full of spaceships that could not takeoff again and becomes a boon for the Angarans and Initiative due to many preserved ships still intact (Some militia missions or something time boosted)
That's something I came up with while waiting for a ride. Is it perfect? No. Is it flawed? Yes. Also there are recycled plot lines and obvious Star Trek homages but it's far better than what we got. I'm not a writer and I don't ever want to be one, I want BioWare to be better but I'm not holding my breath for them to get better for Mass Effect.
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Gileadan
N5
![*](//storage.proboards.com/6576594/images/Cxe61tFipqUzASLV595U.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/6576594/images/Cxe61tFipqUzASLV595U.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/6576594/images/Cxe61tFipqUzASLV595U.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/6576594/images/Cxe61tFipqUzASLV595U.png)
Agent 46
Clearance Level Ultra
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
Origin: ALoneGretchin
Posts: 2,736 Likes: 6,809
Member is Online
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Agent 46
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Gileadan
Clearance Level Ultra
2,736
August 2016
gileadan
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda
ALoneGretchin
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Post by Gileadan on Jan 4, 2023 6:09:23 GMT
Maybe, but even those in favour of her casting were constantly talking about representation and how important it was that a black actress portrayed Arielle. And who knows, she might be awesome in the role, yet I think we all know why she was picked. It would have been a trivial effort to find a white actress with more experience. In the end, the producers or director or whoever does the casting can pick whoever they want. It's Disney's Little Mermaid after all, not Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid. Its obvious bait. Well you're right of course. I just ocasionally like to give people the benefit of the doubt, and sometimes an interesting discussion can be had anyway. And if not then at least all doubt has been removed.
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Post by Pounce de León on Jan 4, 2023 8:21:48 GMT
Players dont write games, devs do. It is aall predetermined and any choices are smoke and mirrors in a rigid code base. Any outcome also obeys to mathematical rules and exponential versions of the same franchise are simply not financially viable.
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Post by hulluliini on Jan 4, 2023 9:21:08 GMT
Exactly how should it have worked? I'm trying to imagine a way to conform to your expectations that wouldn't have been exceptionally annoying and unpopular, but iIm not coming up with anything. But you've had longer to work on the problem than I have. What's your design vision? Fine:
-Safely landed on snowy planet but can't take off due to planet-side shield that disables aerospace vehicles but you are not sure what's the cause.
-Defend the tempest as its the only source of shelter from hostiles or wild animals -Run into Jaal's group while going on a fetch quest who are also stuck -Both sides growing hostile because of the weather and misunderstandings -Get attacked by remnant, fight and retreat into a cave, try simple gestures and communications,
-Jaal's starts understanding that plus gets that you are not hostile
-His men still pissed off
-Jaal calms them down but they are still aggregated at Jaal for getting them trapped on the planet,
-You show through a diagram on your omni-tool that you are trying to get off the planet and Jaal understands by overlaying a diagram of the planet with his own and showing a large energy fluctuation.
-Both sides have a tense agreement to turn off the device but Jaal's second in command is very dismissive to you.
-You also rescue a friendly medic who Javik trusts immensely,
-Journey to the device offers opportunity for paragon actions like saving a Angaran from stepping on a trap that you detected with your omni tool or helping the medic with medigel.
-Jaal and you both start interacting and sharing words from respective languages -Some Angara start trusting you but 2nd in command still doesn't. -You and Javik get separated from team and fight your way to device. The medic ends up with your squad.
-Disable device after long boss battle with you directing Javik to fire or turn off an energy shielding panel while Javik warns you if the boss begins to use an area of attack that's not telegraphed as well as giving cover fire when requested.
-Javik gets heavily wounded and you carry him out; Jaal's Angara squad finds you and demands what happened in very loud and angry voices. You can either explain through what little of Angaran language you can through your optional dialogue choices and the Angarans that you saved will back you up. If not, the 2nd in command opens fires and you either fight with the friendly Angrans or all of them fight you.
-The yelling and commotion alerts your team and you get reunited with your team as well as the medic.
-You communicate with the medic and he tells you that Jaal needs surgery as soon as possible (the 2nd in command tells you that their shuttle is close and is manned).
-They radio for their picku
-You give the medic or 2nd in command, a chip or something that has a translator or milky way language in an easy to understand, the 2nd in command or medic gives you his own unlocked communicator or computer.
-The medic and Jaal (plus the surviving Angrarns) wait for the shuttle while you hurry back to yours. -The exchange of information allows for both the Initiative and the Angarans to establish two way communication. -Jaal becomes known as the one who helped establish communications between the Angarans and Initiative -If the 2nd in command lives and you meet with him, he says that he despises invaders but will fight with the initiative against the Kett. You tell him the enemy of my enemy saying and 2nd in command says he's glad they both understand each other and warns you against trying anything (joins in the final assault)
-Medic studies milky way combat medicine and medigel, his efforts leads to less Angarans dying and humans get insight into Angaran medicine that assists in development of energy fields with medigel that heals incredibly quickly (medical upgrade). -Snowy planet is full of spaceships that could not takeoff again and becomes a boon for the Angarans and Initiative due to many preserved ships still intact (Some militia missions or something time boosted)
That's something I came up with while waiting for a ride. Is it perfect? No. Is it flawed? Yes. Also there are recycled plot lines and obvious Star Trek homages but it's far better than what we got. I'm not a writer and I don't ever want to be one, I want BioWare to be better but I'm not holding my breath for them to get better for Mass Effect.
ME has never been a game like you describe here so I don't see this kind of thing happening, no matter how much I wanted it to. Just imagine how much voiced dialogue, animations this would involve and you are still in the beginning of the game. BW likes to switch up scenery and missions and introduce new things much faster. I would really want BW to go back to ME1 storytelling where the emotional impact and tension came from a slowly and carefully built story and background instead of cheap gimmicks like emotional music and nonsensical twists (like Shepard readily agreeing to work with Cerberus without the possibility of flipping the finger at TIM) which are justified only after the fact. But I'm not sure the current writers understand or recognise this difference between ME1 and the sequels, even if they had the capability to write that way.
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Post by Vortex13 on Jan 4, 2023 13:17:24 GMT
Yes, it's a convenient handwave so BioWare doesn't have to think too hard about the logistics of first contact but it also makes the whole interaction watered down to the point that there was nothing different between the Angara and humans beside a cheap rubber mask. You could literally swap their entire race out for a colony of secluded human settlers and nothing about them or the plot would change. The original Mass Effect felt more alien and open for discovery than Andromeda did. Oh sure, besides history, culture, and other tiny things like that no difference at all. :rolleyes: Disagree that ME1 felt more alien, other than it being the first game in a franchise so everything is new. What history, culture, and other tiny things are you referring to which somehow sets the Angara apart from just a regular human settlement? That they've been at war for ~80 years? That they are highly emotional? That they come from big families? That; thanks to a certain twitter campaign; they are bisexual? So essentially they are a race of teenage girls hailing from The Brady Bunch with modern day sexual inclusivity thrown in? Much sci-fi. Very Wow. ME1 had much better writing for their aliens. A little exposition heavy I'll grant but at least the team was trying to capture a sense of 'the other' with how the various aliens operated. The conversation with the Rachni queen, from how the dialogue was delivered through the dying Asari, to how the conversation was written to try and express how someone with Synesthesia would perceive the world was far more unique and original over one conversation than the Angara were over the course of the entire game.
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Post by Pounce de León on Jan 4, 2023 16:25:39 GMT
I have another:
We had MEAMP, we had Anthem, by now it should be pretty obvious that jetpacks in combat are shit because they put you out in the open where everybody and their dogs can see you and shoot at you. Most useless gameplay mechanic ever.
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Post by themikefest on Jan 4, 2023 16:36:28 GMT
The jetpack in MEA I was ok with. It helped to avoid taking fire and completing speedrun's. What I didn't like is it turned Ryder and others into a plumber jumping all over the place. Too bad there wasn't an outfit for Ryder to make him/her look like Mario.
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Post by Pounce de León on Jan 4, 2023 16:54:21 GMT
And another:
The free customisable character builds in MEA I kinda enjoyed. But it's making replaying just a featureless sameish goop where only the voice actor adds "character" to the run. Specialised characters allow for more memorable playthroughs.
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Post by Pounce de León on Jan 4, 2023 16:55:28 GMT
The jetpack in MEA I was ok with. It helped to avoid taking fire and completing speedrun's. What I didn't like is it turned Ryder and others into a plumber jumping all over the place. Too bad there wasn't an outfit for Ryder to make him/her look like Mario. Bunnyhop deluxe.
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Son of Dorn
Fortifying everything.
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Jan 11, 2017 14:17:27 GMT
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doomlolz
Dragon Age Inquisition
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Post by Son of Dorn on Jan 4, 2023 16:58:02 GMT
The jetpack in MEA I was ok with. It helped to avoid taking fire and completing speedrun's. What I didn't like is it turned Ryder and others into a plumber jumping all over the place. Too bad there wasn't an outfit for Ryder to make him/her look like Mario. You could paint Ryder's armour in the same colour scheme as Mario and Luigi. 😆
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Post by Vortex13 on Jan 4, 2023 17:24:36 GMT
I have another: We had MEAMP, we had Anthem, by now it should be pretty obvious that jetpacks in combat are shit because they put you out in the open where everybody and their dogs can see you and shoot at you. Most useless gameplay mechanic ever. More than that it made all the kits feel and play the same. That 1,000 lb Krogan soldier moved the exact same way as the 85 lb Salarian Engineer. ME3's MP might have been 'clunky' but at least there was a clear difference in how each kit and race played. What's more, the development team managed to give us some truly unique and interesting classes to play as, as opposed to Andromeda's omni-bunny hop. Everything from the animations of the melee attacks (Drell martial arts, Geth energy pulses, Krogan backhands, Vorcha claws, etc.) to how the class moved and traversed the battlefield (slow and lumbering Geth Primes towering over everything, Asari biotically dodging attacks, Volus beach ball rolls, etc.) made each kit feel unique, even more than just what 3 active abilities and two passives you could bring into battle. What's more, ME3MP didn't screw over all the rarer, mostly alien, kits by stupidly tying ability points to cosmetic unlocks. Seriously, whoever presided over that predatory decision needs to be fired out of a cannon into the sun.
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Post by Pounce de León on Jan 4, 2023 18:06:03 GMT
I have another: We had MEAMP, we had Anthem, by now it should be pretty obvious that jetpacks in combat are shit because they put you out in the open where everybody and their dogs can see you and shoot at you. Most useless gameplay mechanic ever. More than that it made all the kits feel and play the same. That 1,000 lb Krogan soldier moved the exact same way as the 85 lb Salarian Engineer. ME3's MP might have been 'clunky' but at least there was a clear difference in how each kit and race played. What's more, the development team managed to give us some truly unique and interesting classes to play as, as opposed to Andromeda's omni-bunny hop. Everything from the animations of the melee attacks (Drell martial arts, Geth energy pulses, Krogan backhands, Vorcha claws, etc.) to how the class moved and traversed the battlefield (slow and lumbering Geth Primes towering over everything, Asari biotically dodging attacks, Volus beach ball rolls, etc.) made each kit feel unique, even more than just what 3 active abilities and two passives you could bring into battle. What's more, ME3MP didn't screw over all the rarer, mostly alien, kits by stupidly tying ability points to cosmetic unlocks. Seriously, whoever presided over that predatory decision needs to be fired out of a cannon into the sun. ME3 had the oomph. The feedback was right. Running Krogan melee backhand felt impactful. It was whole - sound, perspective, animation, gunplay and powers.
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Post by Hanako Ikezawa on Jan 4, 2023 18:17:27 GMT
Oh sure, besides history, culture, and other tiny things like that no difference at all. :rolleyes: Disagree that ME1 felt more alien, other than it being the first game in a franchise so everything is new. What history, culture, and other tiny things are you referring to which somehow sets the Angara apart from just a regular human settlement? That they've been at war for ~80 years? That they are highly emotional? That they come from big families? That; thanks to a certain twitter campaign; they are bisexual? So essentially they are a race of teenage girls hailing from The Brady Bunch with modern day sexual inclusivity thrown in? Much sci-fi. Very Wow. ME1 had much better writing for their aliens. A little exposition heavy I'll grant but at least the team was trying to capture a sense of 'the other' with how the various aliens operated. The conversation with the Rachni queen, from how the dialogue was delivered through the dying Asari, to how the conversation was written to try and express how someone with Synesthesia would perceive the world was far more unique and original over one conversation than the Angara were over the course of the entire game. Being an engineered race, having a kind of pseudo-reincarnation, something akin to photosynthesis despite not being a plant, etc. The Angara aren’t all bisexual. Jaal is. The Rachni aren’t as unique as you like to claim. Seeing them I immediately thought of the Arachnids from Starship Troopers, even their being able to speak through the dead or dying as you mentioned. Found the Angara far more interesting.
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Post by hulluliini on Jan 5, 2023 8:46:30 GMT
I have another: We had MEAMP, we had Anthem, by now it should be pretty obvious that jetpacks in combat are shit because they put you out in the open where everybody and their dogs can see you and shoot at you. Most useless gameplay mechanic ever. More than that it made all the kits feel and play the same. That 1,000 lb Krogan soldier moved the exact same way as the 85 lb Salarian Engineer. ME3's MP might have been 'clunky' but at least there was a clear difference in how each kit and race played. What's more, the development team managed to give us some truly unique and interesting classes to play as, as opposed to Andromeda's omni-bunny hop. Everything from the animations of the melee attacks (Drell martial arts, Geth energy pulses, Krogan backhands, Vorcha claws, etc.) to how the class moved and traversed the battlefield (slow and lumbering Geth Primes towering over everything, Asari biotically dodging attacks, Volus beach ball rolls, etc.) made each kit feel unique, even more than just what 3 active abilities and two passives you could bring into battle. What's more, ME3MP didn't screw over all the rarer, mostly alien, kits by stupidly tying ability points to cosmetic unlocks. Seriously, whoever presided over that predatory decision needs to be fired out of a cannon into the sun. In ME3MP you can play as Geth Prime?
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Aug 17, 2016 20:27:17 GMT
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Post by ClarkKent on Jan 5, 2023 8:58:17 GMT
What history, culture, and other tiny things are you referring to which somehow sets the Angara apart from just a regular human settlement? That they've been at war for ~80 years? That they are highly emotional? That they come from big families? That; thanks to a certain twitter campaign; they are bisexual? So essentially they are a race of teenage girls hailing from The Brady Bunch with modern day sexual inclusivity thrown in? Much sci-fi. Very Wow. ME1 had much better writing for their aliens. A little exposition heavy I'll grant but at least the team was trying to capture a sense of 'the other' with how the various aliens operated. The conversation with the Rachni queen, from how the dialogue was delivered through the dying Asari, to how the conversation was written to try and express how someone with Synesthesia would perceive the world was far more unique and original over one conversation than the Angara were over the course of the entire game. Being an engineered race, having a kind of pseudo-reincarnation, something akin to photosynthesis despite not being a plant, etc. The Angara aren’t all bisexual. Jaal is. The Rachni aren’t as unique as you like to claim. Seeing them I immediately thought of the Arachnids from Starship Troopers, even their being able to speak through the dead or dying as you mentioned. Found the Angara far more interesting. This. And the Rachni are basically the exception that proves the rule, like the Geth in ME2. The aliens represent aspects of human culture. This was true throughout the trilogy and it's not a bad thing at all. Mass Effect has never been some Stanislaw Lem type Sci Fi lol. And in regards to cheap twists, ME1 has some bad ones. The council being won over by some dumb voice recording is one.
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Post by hulluliini on Jan 5, 2023 9:00:47 GMT
I think the number of different races in the trilogy is what gives the impression of a more alien feel. Andromeda really would have benefited from even one more new race.
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Post by Pounce de León on Jan 5, 2023 12:47:32 GMT
More than that it made all the kits feel and play the same. That 1,000 lb Krogan soldier moved the exact same way as the 85 lb Salarian Engineer. ME3's MP might have been 'clunky' but at least there was a clear difference in how each kit and race played. What's more, the development team managed to give us some truly unique and interesting classes to play as, as opposed to Andromeda's omni-bunny hop. Everything from the animations of the melee attacks (Drell martial arts, Geth energy pulses, Krogan backhands, Vorcha claws, etc.) to how the class moved and traversed the battlefield (slow and lumbering Geth Primes towering over everything, Asari biotically dodging attacks, Volus beach ball rolls, etc.) made each kit feel unique, even more than just what 3 active abilities and two passives you could bring into battle. What's more, ME3MP didn't screw over all the rarer, mostly alien, kits by stupidly tying ability points to cosmetic unlocks. Seriously, whoever presided over that predatory decision needs to be fired out of a cannon into the sun. In ME3MP you can play as Geth Prime? Ye, is called the Juggernaut, has llittle drone and pulse gun and can put up an energy shield.
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Post by Vortex13 on Jan 5, 2023 13:03:33 GMT
More than that it made all the kits feel and play the same. That 1,000 lb Krogan soldier moved the exact same way as the 85 lb Salarian Engineer. ME3's MP might have been 'clunky' but at least there was a clear difference in how each kit and race played. What's more, the development team managed to give us some truly unique and interesting classes to play as, as opposed to Andromeda's omni-bunny hop. Everything from the animations of the melee attacks (Drell martial arts, Geth energy pulses, Krogan backhands, Vorcha claws, etc.) to how the class moved and traversed the battlefield (slow and lumbering Geth Primes towering over everything, Asari biotically dodging attacks, Volus beach ball rolls, etc.) made each kit feel unique, even more than just what 3 active abilities and two passives you could bring into battle. What's more, ME3MP didn't screw over all the rarer, mostly alien, kits by stupidly tying ability points to cosmetic unlocks. Seriously, whoever presided over that predatory decision needs to be fired out of a cannon into the sun. In ME3MP you can play as Geth Prime? Yep. It was part of the last DLC drop they did for ME3MP, along with the Krogan Warlord and EDI bot if I'm not mistaken.
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire
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Post by Vortex13 on Jan 5, 2023 13:09:32 GMT
Being an engineered race, having a kind of pseudo-reincarnation, something akin to photosynthesis despite not being a plant, etc. The Angara aren’t all bisexual. Jaal is. The Rachni aren’t as unique as you like to claim. Seeing them I immediately thought of the Arachnids from Starship Troopers, even their being able to speak through the dead or dying as you mentioned. Found the Angara far more interesting. This. And the Rachni are basically the exception that proves the rule, like the Geth in ME2. The aliens represent aspects of human culture. This was true throughout the trilogy and it's not a bad thing at all. Mass Effect has never been some Stanislaw Lem type Sci Fi lol. And in regards to cheap twists, ME1 has some bad ones. The council being won over by some dumb voice recording is one. Not just the Rachni. You had the Thorian, Elcor and Hanar present as well and each of them were presented as definitively alien even outside of just appearance. Hell, even the Geth in ME1 managed to touch that aspect of uniqueness with the 'shrine' to Sovereign Shepard comes across; more than just mindless robots. Andromeda, on the other hand, a galaxy over 2 million light years away from our home has what? Brady Bunch teenagers, a Collector knockoff, and actual mindless robots powered by sudoku. EDIT: Even the more human-like aliens in ME1 had more thought put into them than what we saw in Andromeda. The Turians with their emphasis on society over personal wants as well as their dedication to military service. The Salarians who's accelerated metabolism lended them to being a species that thought fast, talked fast, and died fast in a galaxy full of other races that, to them, seemed to be moving in slow motion. The Asari, despite clearly being the 'space babes' of the setting, had a background of being long planning architects of galactic politics and a tendency of viewing the other species as inexperienced children in general overview. Of course all of that nuance is thrown out the airlock for those races in Andromeda and we are left with pale imitations who wear their rubber masks horribly and are little more than just re-skinned humans.
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, KOTOR, Jade Empire
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Post by Vortex13 on Jan 5, 2023 13:16:29 GMT
What history, culture, and other tiny things are you referring to which somehow sets the Angara apart from just a regular human settlement? That they've been at war for ~80 years? That they are highly emotional? That they come from big families? That; thanks to a certain twitter campaign; they are bisexual? So essentially they are a race of teenage girls hailing from The Brady Bunch with modern day sexual inclusivity thrown in? Much sci-fi. Very Wow. ME1 had much better writing for their aliens. A little exposition heavy I'll grant but at least the team was trying to capture a sense of 'the other' with how the various aliens operated. The conversation with the Rachni queen, from how the dialogue was delivered through the dying Asari, to how the conversation was written to try and express how someone with Synesthesia would perceive the world was far more unique and original over one conversation than the Angara were over the course of the entire game. Being an engineered race, having a kind of pseudo-reincarnation, something akin to photosynthesis despite not being a plant, etc. The Angara aren’t all bisexual. Jaal is. The Rachni aren’t as unique as you like to claim. Seeing them I immediately thought of the Arachnids from Starship Troopers, even their being able to speak through the dead or dying as you mentioned. Found the Angara far more interesting. How much of that really colored the Angara during the game through and how much of it is just little sci-fi wibbly wobbly technobabble to make them seem more than just humans in a cheap rubber costume? If you want to get down to strict comparisons then the Rachni were an engineered race as well. They also have a form of pseudo-reincarnation via memory transfer of previous queens. They have a biological equivalent to quantum entanglement communicators, natural weapons and armor on par with modern interstellar technology, are capable warriors or engineers moments from hatching, can survive 'naked' in environments that would kill even an armored Krogan, and they are practically immune to the effects of indoctrination.
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Post by hulluliini on Jan 5, 2023 13:21:25 GMT
In ME3MP you can play as Geth Prime? Ye, is called the Juggernaut, has llittle drone and pulse gun and can put up an energy shield. My mind is blown. This sounds absolutely amazing. Unfortunately I suck at multiplayer.
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