Andromeda was clearly meant to get DLCs, it's daft to suggest anything else really. Not only do pretty much every modern game get DLCs, because it's basically printing money, but they set up several opportunities for DLCs in the game - particularly several hints towards the Quarian ark. The ending also conveniently leaves a lot of things open. The fact that they actually announce that they're not further developing Andromeda single-player also kinda tells that they initially planned to do so.
Gaming Mass Effect: Andromeda (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Thread starter Shane88
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I have no doubt the quarian ark would have been in the sequel rather than dlc.
It was obviously supposed to have DLC.
I was in the production of 2 games. Not AAA games mind. They attract far more investment than the games I was used to.
Open worlds are a bitch to test. There's so many combinations/variables that need to be taken upon. However some things are easier to catch then others. Out of bound bugs in choke points (ex prior/just after animations) can be considered as easy bugs that are captured early in production. There's no feckin way that QA/Testing won't capture those. Same can be said about facial glitches with the default characters. The QA/Testing game must have at least tested the game in detail using the default character. That suggest an unfinished game.
Those are the 2 major clues I could pick upon. However there are many others which further convince me that the game was poorly planned. For example the game throws at you all the characters AND its features early on. That's usually something top quality games who were adequately planned and were given enough time to be polished won't do for at least 2 reasons.
A- The early parts of the game is usually the first parts of the game to be finished. Therefore a good production team would try to keep the game as lightweight as possible early on
B- It gives the gamer an overwhelming sense that serious gaming companies would try to avoid.
I used to love mass effect so I was pretty interesting to know what was happening behind the scenes. Someone on youtube showed an early build (which I think was released a year before production) which graphics and facial expressions were far better then the finished game. That's rather concerning. It seem that the development team had committed to a certain programming/graphical strategy and went with it for quite some time (ie the build was relatively advanced) only to change it later on. I worked in a game like that. The developers were rumoured to be clueless and too green to take on a game by themselves. The game never saw the light of day and guess what? The entire team was dismantled with people getting relocated into other teams and those responsible fired. Doesn't that ring a bell?
The rest is down to interpretation. What I consider as an unfinished product may be considered to you as a finished product with plenty of flaws. However let me tell you one thing. The fact that a triple A game came out with so many bugs, it received so much criticism, it got only 1 fix build, its team was 'relocated' + there won't be doing any DLCs soon then everything points to one thing ie a mess.
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My personal experience with testing comes from World of Warcraft, including some of the expansions (alpha in some, beta in others) and some early access games (alpha or beta) on Steam. I haven't done proper testing for a company.
Thinking about it, I'm actually inclined to agree with you that the facial expressions were a sign of an unfinished - or at the very least rushed - game. My own experience has definitely coloured my view on this. I went pretty much entirely logical+professional (or whatever the bottom two were called) and from my understanding the weird animations and glitches usually happened if you went emotional and casual (again, not sure that's the actual names, but the top ones). If that wasn't due to the game being unfinished or rushed, it was definitely piss poor QA.
I think we pretty much agree on the state of the game really, we just don't agree on what to call it as you say. Calling it "beta" is definitely over the top (as you've admitted yourself). It wasn't the lack of polish that makes the game worse in my opinion ((facial)-animations aside, I honestly don't think the game was worse than other games in this regard), it's simply the lack of quality in the game and no amount of testing could've helped with that. It's probably both unfinished and lacking quality really, and we just have a different focus.
For what it's worth, playing default male was a pretty much flawless experience animation-wise in my case. I think most of the bugs and quirks happened when you played with the settings, which obviously shouldn't happen and indeed should've been caught in internal testing. Whether it happened because the game was rushed or they had too much faith in the engine doing their work for them is uncertain - probably a bit of both.
Thinking about it, I'm actually inclined to agree with you that the facial expressions were a sign of an unfinished - or at the very least rushed - game. My own experience has definitely coloured my view on this. I went pretty much entirely logical+professional (or whatever the bottom two were called) and from my understanding the weird animations and glitches usually happened if you went emotional and casual (again, not sure that's the actual names, but the top ones). If that wasn't due to the game being unfinished or rushed, it was definitely piss poor QA.
Hm, I'm not sure I agree with that actually. The features, yes - but you can argue that it's a continuation to the original trilogy, so gating features would seem a bit too artificial. I think characters are introduced like they are in pretty much all other BioWare games. I haven't heard about anyone being overwhelmed by the game (if anything I think the game was too simple), but I could have simply missed that.
It got several patches, but your original point is fair. While I had a pretty bug free experience myself (as said above, playing default male most certainly helped with that), there were definitely areas that lacked polish.
I think we pretty much agree on the state of the game really, we just don't agree on what to call it as you say. Calling it "beta" is definitely over the top (as you've admitted yourself). It wasn't the lack of polish that makes the game worse in my opinion ((facial)-animations aside, I honestly don't think the game was worse than other games in this regard), it's simply the lack of quality in the game and no amount of testing could've helped with that. It's probably both unfinished and lacking quality really, and we just have a different focus.
They've had a whole trilogy to learn from their mistakes, and that's just in a futuristic RPG. BW has well and truly jumped the shark, which is a shame.
You could argue that had already happened several years ago, of course...
Still waiting for this game to be 10 dollars...
EA is already shutting down Bioware Montreal which made the game. This announcement was just a formality. Sad to see a franchise possibly die this way.
I wonder if they may revive it in the future and pretend this game doesn't exist with Casey Hudson leading again.
Dunno, mud sticks. After the reception Andromeda got, EA might give Mass Effect the Old Yeller treatment.
Difficult to capture the magic of the original trilogy again but it'd be great to see happen.
A new Mass Effect directed from him and the story writen by Karpyshyn would make me really excited.Just seen this so a chance
The game wasn't bad. I actually liked it quite a lot and I am pretty critical of shitty overhyped games. I think the game basically got social media bombed because of wonky animations, which I personally don't give a feck about. I care about the story and the gameplay and graphical stuff for me just has to be good enough. The enormous shitting on the game got in the first few weeks killed it.
Unless you absolutely loathe open world games, you will probably enjoy Andromeda.
Unless you absolutely loathe open world games, you will probably enjoy Andromeda.
I would be very surprised if that's why it bombed. I didn't read a single review or social media post about the game before I bought it, and I still found it massively disappointing. It was grindy and bloated with useless side quests that made no difference to anything, whatsoever. Instead they succeeded in completely distracting from the main story line.
And the main story line itself was underwhelming. It was impossible to know what outcome any of your decisions made. Did it effect the game somehow? I have no idea. The companions weren't particularly amazing, there were none which could rival those of ME 1-3. It lacked the heart and the suspense of 1-3, and that feeling of heading towards something bigger. It just sort of plodded along, with you doing missions along the way, not quite able to see the bigger picture or realise the impact of 'key' choices.
I played it some time ago and I was disappointed overall. I enjoyed the combat ( even though it gets repetitive as the game comes closer to the end but was fun ) but the game failed in everything else IMO, from underwhelming story to mediocre RPG elements. I predicted so much from this game so the overall feeling after finishing it can't be anything except disappointment. The game failed to reach the hype and most importantly failed to reach the same height the series has reached in the previous installments. The net result is a mediocre RPG game with fun combat.
The overwhelming negative feedback the game got the first 2-3 weeks was absolutely about the animations.
Like I said, if you don't like those open world style games, you probably won't like it. If you don't mind them, it's fine. It's mass effect. I agree, the companions were underwhelming. I didn't really enjoy any of them the way I enjoyed the original games companions. I thought almost all of the new companions in ME2 were garbage too though. Mordin was about the only one I liked.
The story was fine. It wasn't anything amazing. If you like mass effect, and you like open world rpgs, you will like ME:A. If you don't, you probably won't. That said, most of the actual gameplay is a vast improvement over the original trilogy.
Probably, but I doubt all the negative reviews since then were about the animations. And I doubt any serious reviewers main complaint was the animations. But I don't really read reviews, so I don't know.
I love open world games and ME 1-3 is my favourite trilogy of all time, I've played it hundreds of times. Didn't enjoy ME:A a whole lot though.Sure the gameplay mechanics were fine, but that's not the first thing I look for in an open world RPG. RPGs should be about story and character relations. I just felt that ME:A lacked that. Its nice gameplay wasn't enough to keep the game interesting for all the little grindy quests. The story felt fragmented, the decisions you made seemed inconsequential and the characters were largely paint by numbers.
Also ME2 had probably my favourite companion in the series- Jack.
The negative feedback energy was already in place years ago with the release of ME3 with day 1 DLC that included one of the best companions followed by the comedic ending. BioWare just doesn't have 'it' anymore. The animations weren't the whole story.
I'd agree that Mordin's a cut above the rest but I can't imagine you having much love for ME2 while disliking the best parts.
ME Andromeda deluxe edition (PS4 & XBOX) for 21 dollars in Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...78814fae05afd5f940INT&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...78814fae05afd5f940INT&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1
The standard edition will probably be under 10 dollars pretty soon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...78814fae05afd5f940INT&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...78814fae05afd5f940INT&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1
The standard edition will probably be under 10 dollars pretty soon.
https://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-...71&sr=1-2&keywords=mass+effect+andromeda&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-...71&sr=1-2&keywords=mass+effect+andromeda&th=1
ME Andromeda deluxe edition (PS4 & XBOX) @ $14 USD in Amazon.
The standard edition for PC @ USD $12.67.
I'm still gonna wait for the end of year offers... might even be free by then.
https://www.amazon.com/Mass-Effect-...71&sr=1-2&keywords=mass+effect+andromeda&th=1
ME Andromeda deluxe edition (PS4 & XBOX) @ $14 USD in Amazon.
The standard edition for PC @ USD $12.67.
I'm still gonna wait for the end of year offers... might even be free by then.
Thing is, I agree with all that bar the bold bit, as for me, the gameplay was good and fun enough to keep me very much interested. Thought the mechanics and combat were all really good.
It's funny, as I think the same about all the Mass Effect games bar the first one. The story in ME:2 and 3 is also complete garbage really and doesn't make much sense (the only thing both those have are great crew stories, which Andromeda has a little bit of, but doesn't quite compare), but the gameplay was so good that I loved both.
Thinking about it, that's all Mass Effect should be - A space story about getting a crew and doing jobs... feck this whole "Universe saving" nonsense.
After replaying them all in 2019 I have ranked them as ME:2, ME:1, ME:A, ME:3.
I have had a lot of fun playing ME: A on PC compared to when i played it on console.
I have had a lot of fun playing ME: A on PC compared to when i played it on console.
Did they end up fixing the bugs on the console version?
I played the original trilogy and loved all three (even the ending wasn’t AS bad as people made out). I never liked the look of Andromeda pretty much from the off and gave it a wide berth - is it worth picking up at this point?
I got it on CDKeys for a fiver. Definitely worth it for that. It’s a big enough game.
No idea. I played it on console when it first came out and it was super buggy.
This one doesn’t seem too bad so far actually on PC and has gone pretty smoothly.
It's a good game imo. Completed it last year.
Something I find with Bioware games is that I have to like the character I create, like their personality as I play them, and like the skills and play styles that it leads to.
I've had times that I've chosen wrong and didn't like the game, only to try again at a later date, roll another character and end up liking it.
Something I find with Bioware games is that I have to like the character I create, like their personality as I play them, and like the skills and play styles that it leads to.
I've had times that I've chosen wrong and didn't like the game, only to try again at a later date, roll another character and end up liking it.
Currently less than £4 on ps store... Tempted buy wondering if it'll be a free game in the coming months. I know it's only 4 quid but I always buy a game then it ends up on the free games a month or two later :lol
It's good. Definitely worth £4. It got a lot of shit, some of which it deserved, but a lot of which it didn't.
It's really, really long and takes ages to get going, maybe 20 hours before it actually becomes an enjoyable experience, but after that I do think it's a good game. If it wasn't for all the buggy face animations (which were since fixed) and annoying "go here, get this" side quests it could've been a great game. it's definitely worth playing. I (mostly) enjoyed the 70-80 odd hours I spent playing it.
The combat is also really underrated, it's lots of fun.
The combat is also really underrated, it's lots of fun.
I say this every time Andromeda comes up: I love the initial premise of a ship exploring another fecking galaxy with frozen pioneers on board. Great ambition!
Then they land on the first planet... and it's a rocky desert not unlike something you could see in Australia or Arizona. Sure, there were some exciting underground bases - but SERIOUSLY? Even Star Wars has overdone Tatooine at this point.
With that premise, the first planet of a new galaxy should have been some utterly wild place. Either teeming with colourful flora and fauna, the likes of which we've never seen, or... I don't know, a planet full of nothing but dead metal and technology, all in fantastic shapes. Or something. Just not fecking Tunisia. I don't care what story justification they had for it, it was a horrible choice.
Then they land on the first planet... and it's a rocky desert not unlike something you could see in Australia or Arizona. Sure, there were some exciting underground bases - but SERIOUSLY? Even Star Wars has overdone Tatooine at this point.
With that premise, the first planet of a new galaxy should have been some utterly wild place. Either teeming with colourful flora and fauna, the likes of which we've never seen, or... I don't know, a planet full of nothing but dead metal and technology, all in fantastic shapes. Or something. Just not fecking Tunisia. I don't care what story justification they had for it, it was a horrible choice.
Ah £4 is nothing I suppose £4 for 70 hours is well worth it, cheap entertainment.
Thanks guys, easily convinced me.
Thanks guys, easily convinced me.
Yeah the first planet sucked, it seemed like a really bad decision because some of the planets after that were really well designed and the new species on them was really cool. Like I said, the game takes around 15-20 hours to get good and that first fecking planet is a big reason why.
Absolute bargain at £4... a game I really enjoyed and look fondly back at.
I played it at its time and I thought the combat was fun but everything else was poorly done. The world was empty, side tasks were boring and RPG elements were terrible. The story was forgettable too, don't remember a single moment from it. If someone can focus on the combat only and ignores everything else, they can enjoy it though, especially at this price.
I refuse to play it out of principle.
Which is what?
I just want more games in the Mass Effect universe.