Post by armass81 on Mar 27, 2017 9:24:54 GMT
Ok i just finished the game and heres my review so far.
Graphics: Ive never been a graphics whore and to me the facial animations, i got used to them in a while, but for 2017 this is not up to the standards, sure. That said, it didnt really detract that much of my enjoyment, but then again I havent played any games this lenght since ME3 tbh. The worlds are beautiful, i enjoyed them. Animations are somewhat wonky and there are some glaring animation bugs (one talking scene i had with Vetra, she was stuck in thsi weird position the whole time). Outside of conversations the animation look ok. In summary, graphics and animation wise, outside of the world, it seems Bioware stuck into the past, in the worse way. Theres not that much improvement over the last games of the series and in some ways, regression.
Story: I try not to compare this to the OT, and take it in as one of its own. Its quite generic. There the bad guy villain, but hes generic, the story seem disjointed, some parts are done well but others are not so good.
Music: They went for a really minimalist apporoach. Theres couple of nice tracks but nothing to write home about. In most of the scenes, theres no music at all, which kinda detracts from the scenes IMO. In all its a dissapointing soundtrack.
Characters: They do their job, it took a bit of warming into them, but I think theyre ok. They can be a very polarizing, but i got that this crew is not that of the Normandys, theyre scouts and more inexperienced bunch, aside from couple of characters, and on that front it works for me. I liked the new guy Jaal, i think hes my favorite. Dialogue can be so and so, sometimes its good, other places its bad or cheesy. Voice acting is on point, most of the time, some line deliveries felt wooden.
Combat: The combat is excellent. Its fast paced, theres so much you can do with the dodging and positioning. Feels great. Its too bad they took out the squad controls tough, now they just feel like these automated battle bots following you and spewing lines.
Exploration: Id say its definately an improvement over the games, its just that it hits a very hit and miss area. The maps are huge, but theres no mini map which makes finding places annoying. Some of the quests are intresting, but for every one of those theres like 5 fetch quests or uninspired go here, search this kind of things. Flying from planet to planet is beatiful, but it seriously needs a skip button.
Issues: Theres some issues in this game aside from the animation and glitches. It just has this feeling of general lack of polish and like they didnt have a coherent production. Theres also laziness seen. There are animal life on the planets but theyre all recycled, as are the bosses. The vault system is pretty much the same on every planet, even tough the vaults themselves offer a bit of variety.
Also dissapointing is that we get to a new galaxy and theres so little innovation. The first contact mission feels rushed, it could have had so much more potential . And theres only like 2 new alien races we see in the game. Why not add discovering new civilizations as mission instead of say fixing some electrical issues in the Nexus, or finding rocks or plants on planet... boring.
Overall impressions: Its a decent ME game but definately dissapointing considering it carries the series name. As it is now im gonna score it at 7.9/10, which may rise if some bug issues and others are ironed out. Its worth a buy if youre a fan especially, but some things could have been done so much better with a bit of care and love and more time. To me i felt like if I was playing the first game, with some parts feeling half finished and all that, only that they changed from medieocre gameplay and excellent story to the complete opposite. Its a bumby start to a new galaxy.
Graphics: Ive never been a graphics whore and to me the facial animations, i got used to them in a while, but for 2017 this is not up to the standards, sure. That said, it didnt really detract that much of my enjoyment, but then again I havent played any games this lenght since ME3 tbh. The worlds are beautiful, i enjoyed them. Animations are somewhat wonky and there are some glaring animation bugs (one talking scene i had with Vetra, she was stuck in thsi weird position the whole time). Outside of conversations the animation look ok. In summary, graphics and animation wise, outside of the world, it seems Bioware stuck into the past, in the worse way. Theres not that much improvement over the last games of the series and in some ways, regression.
Story: I try not to compare this to the OT, and take it in as one of its own. Its quite generic. There the bad guy villain, but hes generic, the story seem disjointed, some parts are done well but others are not so good.
Music: They went for a really minimalist apporoach. Theres couple of nice tracks but nothing to write home about. In most of the scenes, theres no music at all, which kinda detracts from the scenes IMO. In all its a dissapointing soundtrack.
Characters: They do their job, it took a bit of warming into them, but I think theyre ok. They can be a very polarizing, but i got that this crew is not that of the Normandys, theyre scouts and more inexperienced bunch, aside from couple of characters, and on that front it works for me. I liked the new guy Jaal, i think hes my favorite. Dialogue can be so and so, sometimes its good, other places its bad or cheesy. Voice acting is on point, most of the time, some line deliveries felt wooden.
Combat: The combat is excellent. Its fast paced, theres so much you can do with the dodging and positioning. Feels great. Its too bad they took out the squad controls tough, now they just feel like these automated battle bots following you and spewing lines.
Exploration: Id say its definately an improvement over the games, its just that it hits a very hit and miss area. The maps are huge, but theres no mini map which makes finding places annoying. Some of the quests are intresting, but for every one of those theres like 5 fetch quests or uninspired go here, search this kind of things. Flying from planet to planet is beatiful, but it seriously needs a skip button.
Issues: Theres some issues in this game aside from the animation and glitches. It just has this feeling of general lack of polish and like they didnt have a coherent production. Theres also laziness seen. There are animal life on the planets but theyre all recycled, as are the bosses. The vault system is pretty much the same on every planet, even tough the vaults themselves offer a bit of variety.
Also dissapointing is that we get to a new galaxy and theres so little innovation. The first contact mission feels rushed, it could have had so much more potential . And theres only like 2 new alien races we see in the game. Why not add discovering new civilizations as mission instead of say fixing some electrical issues in the Nexus, or finding rocks or plants on planet... boring.
Overall impressions: Its a decent ME game but definately dissapointing considering it carries the series name. As it is now im gonna score it at 7.9/10, which may rise if some bug issues and others are ironed out. Its worth a buy if youre a fan especially, but some things could have been done so much better with a bit of care and love and more time. To me i felt like if I was playing the first game, with some parts feeling half finished and all that, only that they changed from medieocre gameplay and excellent story to the complete opposite. Its a bumby start to a new galaxy.
