Excellent review. I agree with almost everything, although I didn't like the combat in MEA as much as you did. Using your squadmates' powers was a major part of combat in the original games, but it's gone in MEA, so it now makes little difference who your squadmates are and what powers they have. I liked the old class system, too, and am not a fan of the new "use any powers you like" system. Less is more sometimes.
I miss using your squadmates too, and they shouldn't have taken that ability out, but the actual combat I feel is more fluid and mobile than the previous games. Less attaching yourself to a wall and popping and shooting ala Gears of War.
Yeah, I'm replaying ME2 at the moment and what I miss from MEA's combat are the greater mobility (the dash movement is especially great, I'm futilely tapping the middle mouse button all the time in ME2), auto-cover and the fact that in MEA you don't have to stay in cover all the time. But what I love about the old combat system is that it's genuinely team-based and squadmate powers are essential in any tough fight. Also, as the missions are so linear in ME2, combat seems more meaningful, while in MEA you're most of the time fighting pointless battles against randomly spawning enemies.
You're not too cynical. Andromeda is NOT as engaging and well done as the original ME trilogy. Bland is a good description of the games. It's characters are bland. The story itself is bland. I completed it and have attempted 3 times to do a second playthrough. I just can't do it and instead get drawn away to something else. A 6th play of the Deus Ex Adam Jensen games or going back to replay Fallout 3 and 4...I even picked up the Kerbal Space Program sim/game because Andromeda just can't suck me in and hold me like the original trilogy. In fact, watching this review makes me really to replay the trilogy for the 7th or 8th time. I actually look forward to Ashley, Garrus, Liara, Wrex, Grunt, Miranda. I just don't give a crap for Cora, Peebee, Liam, etc. Just too meh and annoying (Liam the vacuous tard, Cora the ridic Asari fanboy and cryptolez, Suvi the religious fanatic lez, the ugly identical Asari, the PC "Krogan", etc).
Liam's personality was in direct contradiction to his profession, which was Crisis Control I think. Weird for a guy who's supposed to keep calm under pressure to lose his cool so much. :/
As soon as you said that bit about the Angara being technologically primitive and we're the first aliens they meet I got a flash vision of a far more interesting game than what we got. It could have been so amazing! If only they'd tried ANYTHING new... Nope. Generic third person action adventure, with RPG bits tacked on and some co-op multiplayer. Huzzah.
I know right? The Angara are so generic in every way, from design to culture, even the way you encounter them and develop a relationship is so bland. Same with the Kett. I didn't even talk about them because there is nothing really to talk about.
The Kett are faceless multiplayer-friendly enemies with weapons that we can (for some reason) use with our human hands and eyes. With the totally original revelation that .... (dun dun DUUUUN) THEY ... ARE .... US! I didn't hate the game, but God ... it feels like they didn't even try.
And I understand and even sympathize with why the Kett are there. It's the classic pull between story and gameplay. ME is a game, so you need enemies to shoot, and the Kett were invented for that purpose, even though it makes the story worse off for it. I would have preferred no massive enemy army to contend with, but again you'd have to come up with something for the player to shoot. I just feel like they could have made a way more interesting enemy to fill that role. Perhaps a first contact gone horribly wrong, which could have addressed all kinds of uncomfortable issues regarding the dark side of colonial expansion; of conquest and the nature of violence or something. Just something!
I see what you're saying, but 2 points: 1) I'd really have liked to have a lot less of the game to be, "drive over there, get out of the Nomad, shoot 15 of the same enemies as you shot on the last two planets, get back in the Nomad, rinse and repeat." 2) If you really have to have your game be 85% shooting, you still don't have to make them be humanoids with human-usable weapons. That only happens because you decide that the mechanic of picking up and using your enemies' weapons is more important than telling an interesting story, and I vehemently disagree.
From someone who hasn't yet played the original trilogy, I will say this: Andromeda does a good enough job to draw in new fans of the franchise, cuz now I'm interested enough to go out and purchase the original trilogy. Had Andromeda been truly horrible, I would not care to even consider playing 1, 2 and 3.
That's great! Definitely play the original games, they are quite good. Andromeda isn't terrible, but for long time fans it has significant issues, particularly with the structure of the story and writing. But hey, if you enjoyed it than that's what matters.
Personally id say play the 2nd then 3rd then first because with how dated the first is you wont really apreciate it as much as you would if you were already familiar with the serise or play it 2 1 then go back through 2 then 3 either way youll probably want to replay the games and make different choices than you did the first time through
Claire Dé Lune yeah I feel the same way. It's my first ME and even though everyone is on the bash train I still live the game and don't regret buying it.
I played the entire Mass Effect series for the first time, starting with one and ending with andromeda, over the last few months. I had all the DLC included, as soon as I ended one I started the next, i had the Andromeda patches, I had no overhanging nostalgia for the series (I am 33 for the record), and ample warning about ME3's ending and ME:A's lackluster release. I could not have had a better experience for this series. And, as a warning, I care mostly about story in any form of entertainment. Here is how I felt. ME3's ending still really ticked me off, extended cut and all. The entire trilogy isn't perfect, no fictional work is, but the ending in particular broke my suspension of disbelief, and then the 'it's only one of many stories' post credit lines as a way of handwaving the oncoming backlash (at least that is how it felt to me) was genuinely aggravating. ME:A had a lot going against it, and if I take all that into account it's a pretty ok, to good, game, but compared to the original trilogy it is wanting. It reminds me of Star Trek Voyager or the 3rd season of Gargoyles (the goliath chronicles), by which I mean it is not bad in a vacuum, they are perfectly enjoyable the first time through, but the series deserved better. So no, it's not just nostalgia that led to the backlash, although I do think it lead to more then this game deserved.
Oh and in answer to your question of if they should keep going down this story path, it's hard to say. The problem is this game is a lot of setup with very little pay off. The Quarian ark, the Kett Empire, the Jardaan, the purpose of the Angara, the fate of the new council being formed in Andromeda, the orb you get on PeeBee's loyalty mission, etc., are all things that are never touched on. If you made a sequel it would have to spend 90% of its opening addressing all of this, instead of going forward with it's next big story. At least that is how I would see it. It's not impossible but I don't trust bioware anymore to do it correctly. But the pieces are all there to make a great story in the Andromeda universe, so I really am not sure.
I agreed with everything you mentioned, with some caveats. The game definitely missed the mark as a whole, leaving worlds unfilled, already explored, and therefore removing one of the biggests selling points. To me, one of the best parts of the Original Trilogy was the amount of detail put into scenes, interactions, world building, and more. Yeah you didn't have the open world's in ME2 and ME3, but you had fleshed out sections that felt satisfying and LIVED IN. Everything about the game's environments left me wanting more just so that it would feel more believable. That and the outposts felt too generic at a point and unused. The game should have featured more growth (more colonists waking up, outposts improvements, Nexus construction). Also, your crew became enjoyable too late in the game. I didn't grow to like mosst of them till the latter 1/3 of the game. Two things I liked though were the profiles for combat and the NON-Paragon/Renegade dialogue options. I am a Paragon guy usually, however, there are sometimes when I just want to say somehting harsh or mean because the character I have built would feel that way. In the OT, you step out of line once and you risk not having a dialogue option later. MEA avoided that and it felt better. I realized this after completing MEA and then going back to ME2 (Which holds up surprisingly well overall). Overall, it felt like MEA double-downed on certain aspects of the gain, and the rest of the game suffered for it. It reminds me of Star Wars when comparing the Original Trilogy and the Prequels. The OT had the set-pieces and story/conflict, the prequels focused on the effects and CGI for more spectacle. MEA focused too much on the open-worlds and action. Both series suffered from those decisions, but the Sequel Trilogy of Star Wars is a show of hope for Mass Effect that it can be improved upon. I hope so badly for a sequel that will take the good and build upon it with a much deeper story and fleshed out characters.
An article came out which says the game had a fucked up production - the only "division" that was able to work 100% on the game were level designers. Others, for example the writers, worked only 2 years over the 5 year production effort, the animation team was understaffed, etc. It's a long read - kotaku.com/the-story-behind-mass-effect-andromedas-troubled-five-1795886428
Not only did I like the ME3 endings, I also am on my 4th ME:A campaign. While it is not the greatest Bioware game, it is as good as other lesser ME titles. There are four new species: Angara, Kett, Remnant, and the unseen creator race.
The developers are quoted as having gone for a lighter mood to soften the clock-tick of the main campaign goals, freeing the player to explore more.......that is, to gather collectables, to play with the crafting system, to in short do all the crap that pads out AAA games (and is far too easily monetized in various ways). I get that "freedom to explore" and "an involving story" are largely incompatible. But I'm inclined to blame the model of how a major game is conceived now, as stacks of easily re-purposed assets and endless combat and fetch quests used to fill out the run time.
I feel like nostalgia is a part of the reason the game is being so negatively received but it's definitely far from the biggest reasons, I came into the mass effect series with Andromeda. I liked it, i didn't love it, but it had some really good moments and sidequests but they were really spread thin and far apart. Some of the visuals on the planets were really good when i sat there and looked at them, but when i snapped out of it and explored around I cant think of a single PLANET sidequest i actually enjoyed except for maybe the Kadara one, but it fell flat and some others. Since i didn't play mass effect until after i beat Andromeda I liked the characters, liam had one good sidequest but his personality flip flopped and sort of just pissed me off. I also found cora annoying, jall's voice actor was really good and had some decent moments. I liked Peebee for the most part, but i really liked Vetra and drack the most. I see Vetra called the female Garrus which is true, but i didn't know who garrus was at the time ;) After i beat the game it actually left me wanting to play more even though it was a average experience, so i went ahead and played 1-3. LOVED IT. Though I could barely stand playing through 1 in all honesty, it's mostly because of how it hasn't aged well, and i really didn't enjoy any of the crew members that much except joker. Garrus and Tali actually bored the shit out of me (but little did i know they'd be my favorites out of the entire series), but they got the job done for the most part. Then I played two and that's where it really picked up, then three and in short im a super fan of the series and have played through it twice. Andromeda could have been better, but i feel it was better than mass effect one by far in my eyes. But that doesn't excuse it from failing to follow the path 2-3 showed them. If a sequel is made for Androemda (which might never happen because of recent events) it could even be on par with the franchise if done right it has allot of potential still, they only explored one cluster out of the galaxy.
hi. your comments about all the same animals and only angara is easily explained by the jordaan terraforming the cluster. They made them all. And as the jordaan story line hasn't been finished (hopefully in DLC) we don't know why.
while selling to EA did benefit Mass Effect 2 it hurt Bioware with Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda. Fact is that when Casey Hudson left, he took the heart and soul of the series with him. We had 10 years of great game series, it's time to move on.
Yeah.._ solid review. Re attacks using squad member powers; could be down in real time; i.e... After target aquisition, left or right D pad to select squad member then actvate powe- reserve D-pad + (x) to locate squad member. Doesn't have to be the old wheel select system. The lack of polish is a major for me. Two play throuhgs yet I wasn't able to use the favorite system in any of them. WTF. Update 1.7 didn't seem to make a difference there and can still fall thrugh the map using asari sword .... The former seriously limited my profile experimentation. I saw others were able to use it, so I guess its either my machine at fault, or an extremely non intuitive save and assign system. I couldn't even work out how to save a profile Given how powerful the builds can be, I think insanity mode is too easy. And I want the chance to use my powerful weapons in multiplayer...Plus heaps of guys reakon PvP option needs to be offered... Let players have a level and non level enabled arena so that people can test both their builds and skills and attract people to play... At the moment only a few play it.
One thing that doesn't get talked about a lot is how streamlined the other races in the game have become. There's virtually nothing alien about them except for their looks. Krogans used to be impulsive and volatile, now the 2 main Krogans are among the most level headed characters in the game.
I use to think the same way as you. But once I realized that Mass Effect Andromeda is establishing a new foundation and to treat it separately from the trilogy I began to accept the game for what it was, a new start. If we had the same team that made the trilogy I believe we would of gotten a better game. It's clear BioWare/EA did not want to deviate from the formula that's worked for them. With the announcement that Mass Effect has been put on hold, it seems this will be the last Mass Effect game in the series. The Mass Effect Trilogy is incredible. Mass Effect Andromeda could never have lived up to it.
Nice review, very good points! It's like the A-team left after the trilogy, and we got a too rushed job by the B-team with the many holes you mention. I basically enjoyed it anyway though and am sad that EA/Bioware wrote it off rather than trying to fix it in DLC's and sequels. It was still the best Sci-Fi game franchise out there! So many unanswered questions that would have been fun to unravel... I hated all the DA games because of their pretty unplayable and lame combat, have no use for more mediocre Sci-Fi with even more Star Wars junk, so just hope the "new IP" doesn't totally suck and can live up to the hype - but with recent news, it sounds like it's getting sucked into the same "let's cut corners" black hole, with the same problems that this game suffered!
I would've loved to see a plot where humans are forced to become the 'alien invaders' by a few unfortunate circumstances. Say, if the Kett had technology (and xenophobia) on par with Earth of the 1950's, and the humans have to offload a huge number of settlers on the Kett's home planet because they've found no other hospitable location and they're running out of resources.
My take, and I have played all the me games is this was kinda like ME1,,, an introduction. Yes, it could and should have taken more time to make the characters more in depth, but again, even though they are on hiaatus now, I will patiently see what develops in DLC, and updates. Here is where the game can only get better. I understand the let down feeling and that was equally due to the hype and our own personal expectations. I just keep in mind that this is only an introduction and as such there should be more and better to come if fans just give it a chance.
Everytime i see any Mass Effect music or footage it makes me want to replay the trilogy. Andromeda just made me miss the original trilogy, i wish they would just release a remake of the trilogy for PS4. Mass Effect 2 being the best.
I like the music, some moments could've used more/ less up beat moments the ending for example was really up beat which wasn't bad considering what happened the intro music was ok... but for me it didn't stick, like when i think of mass effect (1) in particular i can still remember the start screen music and the galaxy map music, and its just there. but maybe thats because I've had years of playing it.
ME:A is ok, but I think it lacks the passion of the originals. You hit the nail on the head when you said it keeps things light hearted and only briefly touches on deep moments. The original, while still having humorous moments, felt foreboding and high stakes. It's hard to feel that at any point in ME:A as even the husks in the original felt more threatening than the Kett. I could go on, but ME:A still provides a story in the ME universe, just unfortunate that all those involved in it would rather bury their head in the sand put the series on ice, than acknowledge they messed up and work harder on a ME:A2.
"This was an opportunity to try new ideas" completely agree I wanted it to focus on exploration as well. You should feel what the explorers and frontiersmen did in the past on new undiscovered continents. Instead it's all bland but looks nice. Also I feel like Anthem sucked most of the resources that was intended for Mass Effect Andromeda. I think Andromeda only got a third of what Anthem got for its budget which is insane.
About what you said in the end about if this was someone's first ME game, that's me actually. I understand why people have issues with it, but I think it's okay, yes the facial features are bad at times and one or two characters are pretty lame (cough Liam cough ) but the I enjoy it, and I think that counts for something. And about the original trilogy, I really do want to play it, and Andromeda for me was a good introduction.
Another big thing that ruins the experience is the way the whole Initiative is represened. It seems like the mission was planned by a 12 years old, with no thoughs on what difficulties one might encounter, and this often seem to collide with the coherence of the world. For example, the Initiative is so technologically advanced that it is able to identify colonizable worlds from the milk way, 2.5 million light years away from Andromeda, yet when the player arrives they are running out of food. Hydroponic coltures are something that exist today and might provide for the new citadel (I forgot its proper name), yet nobody ever though about building them, just in case the s*it hit the fan. Hell, you even see trees inside the new citadel but they could not figure out a way to grow crops indoor?Or we want to speak about the fact that in the first few minutes of the game the ark straight runs into a giant death cloud spanning thousand of kilometers that somehow no sensor had picked up nor someone had spotted, despite the fact that there is a huge window in the front of the bl**dy CIC?Also, somehow you are able through your AI to translate the language and even interface with the technology of a long dead civilization in mere seconds. And you also know immediately what all those pieces of machinery do, which is terraforming planets to conditions that are, surprise surprise, ideal for human colonization. Imagine if the conditions you meet on the first planet are the ones that are actually being sought by the remnant technology and you go around the galaxy f*cking things up without knowing...Again, you run around hostile planets with your rover and never, ever, someone thinks about mounting a gun on it. I am not asking for a mobile piece of artillery, but a machine gun to deal with the Ket that spawn endlessly without having to exit the vehicle, otherwise running the risk of getting blown up by small-weapon fire.Finally, as you point out, some of the missions are poorly designed, and sometimes offer you false moral choices that do not make any sense. For example, at the beginning of the game you can investigate an alleged murder (SPOILERS AHEAD). You find out that the Turian did not kill the other guy, but did indeed shoot him with intention to kill. So, instead of doing the most sensible thing, which is release the Turian for the murder and charge him for attemped murder, you are presented with the false moral choice: do you keep him in prison for a crime he did not commit (murder), or you release him knowing he did commit another crime (attempted murder)? Sorry for the big wall of text, I did not anticipated to write so much but I got carried away. The way this game does things so superficially and uninspiringly really grinds my gears. It really is a wasted opportunity.
I felt the exact same way as you more or less - the thing I couldn't get over with Andromeda - and it's to do with a lack of time and experience on the team's part - There was no world-building. Or barely any. That's where the trilogy excelled so much, Mass Effect 2 was an exhilarating game experience the first time I played it, and the formula continued to ME3 as well. But why didnt we get any history about the planets like Voeld and Elaaden? Or barely anything. They're just pretty landscapes, there's hardly any interest or things to interact with, few points of interest, and few truly good sidequests. We didn't get to learn about any of the factions in depth, the codex had no entries on the fauna of the game, like the flying creatures on Havarl.. the game gives you what it gives you and that's it, if it weren't for the pretty graphics, it wouldn't be immersive at all, which I think it already struggles to deliver on. 6.75/10 - whereas all the previous games scored a 9/10 for me. Different ideals for a game that's meant to be open world, but there was corner cutting happening all across for sure, for a team that inexperienced, it could have used another year in development. Andromeda is an alright game, but I don't think it will reach the fantastic status of the original trilogy.
It's true, the original had those glorious codex entries which, along with the silky smooth vocals of the narrator, made the lore feel plausible and real. Andromeda doesn't have that attention to detail.
Totally Agree. Unfortunately I doubt there will be a NEXT game in the series, or even DLC. I even loved ME3 with it's flawed ending, and replayed it many times to get the different perspectives based on the choices I made. I haven't replayed Andromeda, I really can't see the point. A lot of the choices are just not there in the new game, probably because the devs rushed the game. I don't know how they rushed it, they had long enough to make the game, it's just that nothing in MEA has polish or originality. There is no exploration which is what the game is SUPPOSED to be about, because other races have been to the planets you visit. The characters are just cut'n'paste from ME, and the exceptions are pretty bad as well. The character of PB annoyed the crap out of me, I just wanted the flush her out the airlock. It's a shame you DON'T get the choice to not let her join the team (unlike Dragon Age Inquisition). MEA is the last game I ever purchase on pre-order, I was left so bitterly disappointed having paid for a Tripple A title with so much lore and development behind it, to receive this steaming pile of poop.
ME:A is not a bad game. It is a mediocre game. If the original ME had as uninspired characters and writing as ME:A I would have never gotten into it. When I finished ME and the credits were rolling I felt much like right after I watched the Matrix - like I had just gotten through a fantastic movie. I even bought that song by the Faunts that plays at the end because it reminds me of the great experience. I haven't felt that yet. Maybe the characters deepen later in the game but ME had me interested in the likes of Tali, Wrex etc. from the first time I really interacted with them. Even the choice between Kaiden and Ashley was a tough one, and if you couldn't talk down Wrex at Virmire? People have reloaded saves to avoid killing him. Would you have that fear of losing a crew member in ME:A, even Drax? I wouldn't.
i can forgive them if the only problem is the facial animation alone but the lack of cinematic quality of every conversation is what ruins the game for me. all human just stand there while talking which is pretty creepy to say the very least and if they don't just stand there with eyes wide open they move exactly like everyone else and when i say everyone i really mean EVERYONE because from aliens to humans all they do is poke their wrists.
The games whole story just felt cliche.the game made it seem like you were the only one that could save everyone yet your were not.There were other Pathfinders with SAM implants that could have saved it as well.The original series explained why you were the only one that could save the galaxy.You were the only one that could unite an entire galaxy and fight everyone who stood in your way.To beat the ket in this game all you had to do was push a bunch of buttons which other pathfinders could do since there SAM's were still operational.
The only thing that I strongly disagree with, is the combat portion. You can't say it's better, because it's totally different. And that's why I hate it. That's probably the reason why I didn't even finished the game. Because I could've forced myself to endure everything else, as long as I get the Mass Effect gameplay, aka the tactical-squad-rpg based combat. Well.... I didn't get that either... On everything else, I 100% agree.
Likewise, I play more for the characters than the shoot-ups. Graphics are disappointing. Planets are underdeveloped (cityscape, jungle, desert, desert with sink holes, desert with radioactive water). I found the ship crew (and the ship itself) very boring and sometimes annoying. The pyjak was the most interesting ship member. Too many story lines left unresolved (eg, saved AI, certain choices Ryder made along the way). And where is Reyes Vidal? He was the most interesting potential love interest. I think Danny Messier should link up with supply officer Kim Connor, who would stabilize him. I would like to see Vladimir Brecka developed, and maybe Hawkins MacIntyre. Architecture could be improved. Like ME1-3, there is a lot of wasted space in ships and buildings (but not as many cables lying loosely on the floor). The bar on Nexus (Vortex) could use a performer, not just someone who stands on stage doing nothing. The Cultural Center is a waste of space. ... I've seen the Anthem preview. I wish that effort have been put into Andromeda and will be put into a sequel. Despite the graphics, I don't expect to buy Anthem; I don't see a promising story or characters. (Also, I'm protesting Anthem as a usurper of the effort that should be going into Andromeda.) I cared about the characters in ME1-3. I replayed the stories several times but am always reluctant to finish the final scenes because it means leaving them. That's what I want from Andromeda. (Also, I'd like to see the Ryder SAM differentiated from other SAMs.)
Every one always complains and focuses on the graphic issues. I could care less about the graphics if the writing, story, gameplay and direction was on point. Personally what I would have LOVED to see is more focus on actually making colonies. Smaller sandboxes. More planets. More customizability of your outposts. Colonies separated into Trade/Research/Military. Keep exploring to find more planets that YOU choose to have an outpost on. Not because its scripted for you to have one on. Maybe you choose a barren moon because it has a crap ton of ore but it would need a ton of Credits to support it for life support/food. Maybe you stumble across an actual rare golden world but its overrun with Kett. So you go on a killing spree to clear the way for a colony. Which would be like clearing a huge dungeon and would be legit difficult. These could be procedural quests with only handful of hard locked voiced dialoged. If you want more research points make a research colony and unlock science cryo pods to actually place on that colony. But maybe Kett/other stuff could attack your Outposts and if you don't respond to them in time you loose Research/Credits/or even personnel. Military outposts would place Turrets and Marines in your Outposts allowing them to defend them selves even without your aid. A Well established Military outpost could even aid and support other outposts in where you didn't decide to plop down some military pods in it. They really missed an opportunity here to sweep away with the shitty MMO quest system and make system that could have been near infinite repayable with random procedural event quests long after you beat the main quest.
Thank you, kind of my pipe dream for a Space Exploration based open world Bioware RPG. Oh wait that was supposed to be Andromeda....shiet. We will never get a game with potential like that again...
You made some good points in the video, but to rehash the problem of animations after they've been fixed is a bit short sighted. I'm glad you admitted your bias through the questions you have because they are all valid. I agree that they played it way too safe and they need to take more chances. This was an excellent game and it could've been better, but it was worth every dollar from my pre-order.
What is it with these writers thinking that we need to have characters constantly making wisecracks and corny one-liners. This is exactly why I was so put off by the new Gears of War characters in Gears 4. Enough of that shit.
I'm glad I came across this video cause I wanted to see why this game got so much hate. I'm new to this series so as whose new to the series, I for one really enjoyed this game! I didn't buy this game on release I got it when the 1.06 patch was out so I didn't run into the problems that people were having. I really enjoyed the story and I liked everyone in the crew. I thought Jaal was a badass. I agree I felt like you don't discover new planets because they were already discovered. But I disagree about how you felt the humans were always bland but not the aliens. I bought the trilogy recently and I'm almost finished with the first game. But I've seen tons of videos and from what I've seen, the aliens are the bland ones and the humans have more to them. Everyone always give a character like Ashley shit but seem to be ok with Liara. As I'm currently playing the first game Liara comes off as very bland from her speech to her personality. It made it a very easy decision for me to have Ashley as my love interest instead of Liara. I don't get the internets obession over characters like Tali. The innocent, fan girly type who acts much younger than she is. I don't find that attractive or sexually attractive. From experience, I find Andromeda to be a better a game than the first. Maybe it's cause it's outdated. Or maybe it's because I'm just used to what you can do in it. But in the first, the planets are empty and make me not want to return to them. I like it but not seeing the big deal. Maybe the 2nd and 3rd are better but so far I like Andromeda more. By the way I had more to say but I was working and my phone would keep refreshing so I would keep having to redo what I typed. Sorry that this is long.
I agree, but come on - the whole exploration part of Mass Effect 1 was just bad. Empty planets that look like an intern was having 10 min of fun with a map editor. And meeting only the Ankara as a native species isn't that strange since in the original theory there's also hardly more than one or two sapient ones in a cluster. Heck, most of them have actually zero intelligent races. One of the tings that bothered me most is the huge number of meaningless sidequests. Why not combine 10 of them with a compelling story? IMO no one would've complained if there were only 5 big, compelling sidequests on a planet rather than 20 small, Ubi Soft-esque ones. And why can't I have more interactions with my twin? A biological brother/sister as a crew member would've been the most interesting human companion since ME2's Jack and Miranda. Heck, why even kill the father if you don't include any big mourning scenes. Just pack him in a wheelchair and let him be an advisor on the Tempest. Having a biological family as part of the crew would've been a whole new territory to explore for Mass Effect.
ME Andromeda is a missed opportunity for greatness. What a massive disappointment. The game was the biggest disappointment in gaming history...at least in my opinion. Pathetic Bioware...so pathetic.
My only problem was the ending and aliens. Kett were interesting and (sort of) unique. The Angara were boring and were almost identical to all the races in the Milky Way in all but appearance. Although there were other alien races. You can find a codex entry that talks about the species of the Andromeda galaxy taken by the kett. This would likely be included in the sequels or dlc
It's definitely a bad game IMO. It has nothing going for it except the combat. Maybe I'm biased because of the original trilogy but I don't think so. And it should definitely keep going with the Andromeda setting but with a different protagonist and band of characters, the unexplored clusters and systems should not be populated at all except for the wildlife (Though I have no clue how they're going to explore them because there are no Mass Relays but I'm sure that stupid Dyson Sphere can help on that front). I'm just so disappointed with this game. Great video btw, it's like you're the voice of my disappointments.
The word "Unfortunate" is the best word I can find for this game. Some aspects I found very interesting, the murder of Jien Garson and dissent with the Kett were really interesting ideas that went nowhere. While the core story was interesting, colonising planets became a chore, side missions became annoying and character missions felt weak only because of how little I cared about any of the characters. Not to mention the score. The Trilogy had era defining soundtracks. Andromeda had a vaguely orchestral thing going on. Can't even remember it. The game mechanics themselves were wonderful. Loved the Nomad, the jetpacks, the combat (Though squadmates felt utterly for show) and other mechanics. I also really liked Ryder as a character, but I feel really let down about how the promised "open" morality system worked. In the Trilogy, use of the paragon/renegade system fundamentally defined what type of person your character was. In Andromeda, you're a slightly sarcastic or slightly emotional or slightly serious version of the same character, each time. Shepard could be ruthless, kind, loving or distant. Ryder...Is just kind of Ryder. The core story of finding Arks, while fairly interesting didn't go far enough. I kept waiting for the story to really get going. To find out what Tann was hiding, to find out more about the "Benefactor" to really get into the most interesting parts of the game. I wanted to shoot Tann dammit! But none of that happened. We got a weird ending on a dyson sphere that just made me wish I was playing ME1. I wanted to love it. I like it, and I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. It's all so unfortunate.
Yeah, there definitely wasn't enough political intrigue or use of characters like Tann. And I was actually one of the people who thought getting rid of the paragon/renegade system was a good thing, but in hindsight it really does throw away the branching morality path that was so compelling in the ME trilogy.
Imedias Rez It can be done better: the blue Paragon/red renegade system. What was awful about those choices was they were a guaranteed win in any conversation. If you are trying to get someone to do something or avoid a fight, etc, just pick the blue or red answer and it's a sure win. Deus Ex does it better. There is no color coded conversation choices. You need to read the target well during a conversation and make the right choices during conversation to "win". If you lose a conversation, you fight or you have to find another way to accomplish that specific task. Perfection.
I would've liked a system where your character's morality develops through the game as you make choices. Not colour coded, just unmarked choices like choosing to be diplomatic or fight, pull a trigger or retreat. I wanted to be able to shape Ryder into a ruthless survivor, or a peaceful explorer with my choices. It would've been brilliant to decide what type of Pathfinder you were. Peaceful, or imperial. What we got was bland, the Paragon/Renegade system, while increasingly flawed as the series went on, was at least better than that.
I'll be honest, never played mass effect till andromeda. I kinda thought the whole idea was amazing, and there weren't many glitches for me, and when there was they were really funny. The only annoying one I've encountered was in Drack's last scene in the loyalty mission, because of all the stuff that was happening (levitating t-posed Ryder and Drack) but all in all I guess a new person to the series would really like andromeda.
Interested in why Andromeda came out the way it did? Check out this article: kotaku.com/the-story-behind-mass-effect-andromedas-troubled-five-1795886428 A fascinating look at the behind the scenes drama of Andromeda. Frankly it's a miracle this game didn't come out a total disaster, and explains why the writing wasn't up to snuff.
I've played it for 140+ hours and you are on point with your review... I disagree on one thing tho: Jaal is awesome, but because he's Jaal and not because he's the Angara. His personal journey is the most compelling in my opinion. Peebee was terrible... It's a fun game, but it's not worthy of the franchise name unfortunately...
Andromeda had the same feel as pretty much every other "RPG" game that has been created lately. Just enough story to tell you a bit of why you are doing what you are doing, but that's just a covering for a pleasing combat system. The original Mass Effect games did have a much better storyline, in depth side quests that felt like they actually affected the world around you in a meaningful way. The side quests in this game did little to actually affect the rest of the game it feels like. I mean honestly how many good story based RPGs have we had in the recent years? Gone are the days of Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect trilogy, Fable, Breath of Fire, Lufia, etc that had engaging storylines even in older games that were more linear RPGs.
I picked up on most of what you said on my initial play through. I don't however think it's as bad as the rest of the internet says. A solid 7/10. I felt that it's basically improved on a lot of the faults in ME1, and for the most part I stand by that. After all it wasn't until ME2 that I fell in love with the characters, universe, everything else that makes Mass Effect, Mass Effect. So I'm still a fan. But I do agree with the overall statement that MEA was a missed opportunity.
This was my first in the franchise, coming from DA I. I enjoyed it 8/10... then I played the OG trilogy. Went back to play this and it was obvious what was wrong
good analysis but id have to disagree on me 1-3 being about exploration. there was always an overarching narrative. with character stories being prominent. unlike elder scrolls you weren't just dicking around. me 1 chasing saren me 2 collectors and loyalty missions and finally me 3 with the reaper war. at best id say the exploration was a distraction and at worst inconsequential.
Andromeda is lazy, predictable and boring. It's basically a copy if the original trilogy in terms of story and characters. I find it insulting to cram in story so similar to the original with characters filling same archetypes. You have not wrex, not liara, not ashley, not garus and not jacob... I mean it's just so in your face it hurts.
I like the story of the Angara beeing developed by the Remnant for a purpose. But it isnt developed far enough to make it immersive. The Keth are a disappointment to say the least. I could banter the entire game (open world travel, yeah on 4 planets...) The story itself is the base that is wrong, the writers werent capable to make me love it.
Dude come on. The exploration in ME1 was shit and yes Andromeda did it better. Any way it goes the series needs to ditch exploration. It has never done it well, so just get rid of it.
I enjoyed your video because I could see towards the end that to are at least open minded. I am playing Andromeda as my first mass effect game. And I honestly thought it is pretty fun. Even the driving around I don't mind. Just not all the cut scenes of leaving a planet just to change the color of my outfit. Great video. After watching yours and several others. I'll be playing the original trilogy right after Andromeda.
I disagree with the comment about it being light and fluffy. Ryder Is Not a Soldier. Wasn't meant to be. He or She hasn't grown into their own to be serious. It is a young cast still not yet grown in their roles. I like the trilogy. And Andromeda.
Just because Ryder is not a soldier and the characters are young and inexperienced doesn't mean they should be treating one of the most significant and dangerous exoduses of human (and galactic) history like a high school field trip, which is how they are written a lot of the time.
But I like that! I get so tired of the tiresome trope of super soldier. In games like F4 or even Elder Scrolls I chose not to play the stereotypical knight or soldier, I play the scientist or the scholar. I like the fact that we don't have those heavy soldiery military esque vibe. To be frankly honest, you do have the choice to not chose the super jokey responses in the dialogue wheel to. You can play Ryder straight. Shepard had no personality, well little of it. And he was like, me soldier, me do this, me do that, blah hero of the galaxy. That's fine don't get me wrong I looooove the Mass Effect trilogy. But it gets tiresome to play through such a stiff archetype. I almost like the Starlord, Guardian Galaxy vibe from Andromeda.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want the super soldier trope either, in fact I would have preferred Andromeda get as far away from that as possible, which I don't think it does. Nor do I want a lack of humor, I just think the humor needs to be more finely placed and appropriate. And Ryder isn't the problem so much as the supporting characters, who do crack jokes constantly and in general just don't seem to be too worried even though at any moment they could be stranded in another galaxy with no hope of survival. I'm glad you liked it though, this is just my opinion, don't let it get in your way of playing the game.
Oh no I am having more fun with the conversation. Personally I don't think Andromeda is the greatest game in the world. I find it passable. I don't think it deserves near as much negative criticism as it got. And I do like some of the characters, I find some of the supporting cast interesting. Lexi is one character I can think of who doesn't make snide humorous quips. Neither does Addison or Suvi. Personally I also think a lot of the dialogue delivery is hit and miss. There Are problems and I am not ignoring them, I simply like the fluffy Guardians of the Galaxy, not cut out for this vibe. What I can say is the animation was poor. The dialogue delivery Is hit and Miss. Like Alec Ryder in the very beginning with his speech, which is impacting and serious, then randomly the "let's go make history" sounds rushed and like from a completely different take. I understand now more that Addison was to come off like a cutting and horrible bitch, but the voice actress does not sell it for me. Vivienne from DAI is more of a bitch than Addison. She has no punch in her delivery. Nothing that would convince me that Addison is meant to be the "manipulating, cuniving, asshat" the other characters say she is. Tann also has some really hit or miss delivery. I mean the voice acting is serviceable. And that's my main issue. Maybe what you see as a failure to take things seriously is simply the chose the wrong audio files, wrong cuts to insert into these games.
I agree, some of the supporting characters are good. Like I said, Drack is genuinely a cool character, though it's easy for a Krogan to be awesome. Except for Morda... And I did enjoy Peebee, she's like wide eyed discovery personified. And yeah, the voice acting was hit or miss, and that probably contributes to the problems of Andromeda. I know it probably sounded like I hated the game, but like I said, the premise of Mass Effect is still entertaining and effective even when the story isn't developed to it's full potential. I don't regret my time with it, but I don't know that I'll ever replay it all the way through again, though I might surprise myself.
never send a Ryder to do a shepards job
leon Shepard lol i think there is no job shepard can't do
Excellent review. I agree with almost everything, although I didn't like the combat in MEA as much as you did. Using your squadmates' powers was a major part of combat in the original games, but it's gone in MEA, so it now makes little difference who your squadmates are and what powers they have. I liked the old class system, too, and am not a fan of the new "use any powers you like" system. Less is more sometimes.
I miss using your squadmates too, and they shouldn't have taken that ability out, but the actual combat I feel is more fluid and mobile than the previous games. Less attaching yourself to a wall and popping and shooting ala Gears of War.
Yeah, I'm replaying ME2 at the moment and what I miss from MEA's combat are the greater mobility (the dash movement is especially great, I'm futilely tapping the middle mouse button all the time in ME2), auto-cover and the fact that in MEA you don't have to stay in cover all the time. But what I love about the old combat system is that it's genuinely team-based and squadmate powers are essential in any tough fight. Also, as the missions are so linear in ME2, combat seems more meaningful, while in MEA you're most of the time fighting pointless battles against randomly spawning enemies.
IKI I remember in early interviews that they said you can drive your ship or am I wrong?
You're not too cynical. Andromeda is NOT as engaging and well done as the original ME trilogy. Bland is a good description of the games. It's characters are bland. The story itself is bland.
I completed it and have attempted 3 times to do a second playthrough. I just can't do it and instead get drawn away to something else. A 6th play of the Deus Ex Adam Jensen games or going back to replay Fallout 3 and 4...I even picked up the Kerbal Space Program sim/game because Andromeda just can't suck me in and hold me like the original trilogy. In fact, watching this review makes me really to replay the trilogy for the 7th or 8th time. I actually look forward to Ashley, Garrus, Liara, Wrex, Grunt, Miranda. I just don't give a crap for Cora, Peebee, Liam, etc. Just too meh and annoying (Liam the vacuous tard, Cora the ridic Asari fanboy and cryptolez, Suvi the religious fanatic lez, the ugly identical Asari, the PC "Krogan", etc).
Liam's personality was in direct contradiction to his profession, which was Crisis Control I think. Weird for a guy who's supposed to keep calm under pressure to lose his cool so much. :/
As soon as you said that bit about the Angara being technologically primitive and we're the first aliens they meet I got a flash vision of a far more interesting game than what we got. It could have been so amazing! If only they'd tried ANYTHING new...
Nope. Generic third person action adventure, with RPG bits tacked on and some co-op multiplayer. Huzzah.
I know right? The Angara are so generic in every way, from design to culture, even the way you encounter them and develop a relationship is so bland. Same with the Kett. I didn't even talk about them because there is nothing really to talk about.
The Kett are faceless multiplayer-friendly enemies with weapons that we can (for some reason) use with our human hands and eyes. With the totally original revelation that .... (dun dun DUUUUN) THEY ... ARE .... US!
I didn't hate the game, but God ... it feels like they didn't even try.
And I understand and even sympathize with why the Kett are there. It's the classic pull between story and gameplay. ME is a game, so you need enemies to shoot, and the Kett were invented for that purpose, even though it makes the story worse off for it. I would have preferred no massive enemy army to contend with, but again you'd have to come up with something for the player to shoot. I just feel like they could have made a way more interesting enemy to fill that role. Perhaps a first contact gone horribly wrong, which could have addressed all kinds of uncomfortable issues regarding the dark side of colonial expansion; of conquest and the nature of violence or something. Just something!
I see what you're saying, but 2 points:
1) I'd really have liked to have a lot less of the game to be, "drive over there, get out of the Nomad, shoot 15 of the same enemies as you shot on the last two planets, get back in the Nomad, rinse and repeat."
2) If you really have to have your game be 85% shooting, you still don't have to make them be humanoids with human-usable weapons. That only happens because you decide that the mechanic of picking up and using your enemies' weapons is more important than telling an interesting story, and I vehemently disagree.
Agree on both points.
From someone who hasn't yet played the original trilogy, I will say this: Andromeda does a good enough job to draw in new fans of the franchise, cuz now I'm interested enough to go out and purchase the original trilogy. Had Andromeda been truly horrible, I would not care to even consider playing 1, 2 and 3.
That's great! Definitely play the original games, they are quite good. Andromeda isn't terrible, but for long time fans it has significant issues, particularly with the structure of the story and writing. But hey, if you enjoyed it than that's what matters.
Personally id say play the 2nd then 3rd then first because with how dated the first is you wont really apreciate it as much as you would if you were already familiar with the serise or play it 2 1 then go back through 2 then 3 either way youll probably want to replay the games and make different choices than you did the first time through
Claire Dé Lune yeah I feel the same way. It's my first ME and even though everyone is on the bash train I still live the game and don't regret buying it.
I played the entire Mass Effect series for the first time, starting with one and ending with andromeda, over the last few months. I had all the DLC included, as soon as I ended one I started the next, i had the Andromeda patches, I had no overhanging nostalgia for the series (I am 33 for the record), and ample warning about ME3's ending and ME:A's lackluster release. I could not have had a better experience for this series. And, as a warning, I care mostly about story in any form of entertainment. Here is how I felt.
ME3's ending still really ticked me off, extended cut and all. The entire trilogy isn't perfect, no fictional work is, but the ending in particular broke my suspension of disbelief, and then the 'it's only one of many stories' post credit lines as a way of handwaving the oncoming backlash (at least that is how it felt to me) was genuinely aggravating.
ME:A had a lot going against it, and if I take all that into account it's a pretty ok, to good, game, but compared to the original trilogy it is wanting. It reminds me of Star Trek Voyager or the 3rd season of Gargoyles (the goliath chronicles), by which I mean it is not bad in a vacuum, they are perfectly enjoyable the first time through, but the series deserved better.
So no, it's not just nostalgia that led to the backlash, although I do think it lead to more then this game deserved.
Oh and in answer to your question of if they should keep going down this story path, it's hard to say. The problem is this game is a lot of setup with very little pay off. The Quarian ark, the Kett Empire, the Jardaan, the purpose of the Angara, the fate of the new council being formed in Andromeda, the orb you get on PeeBee's loyalty mission, etc., are all things that are never touched on. If you made a sequel it would have to spend 90% of its opening addressing all of this, instead of going forward with it's next big story. At least that is how I would see it. It's not impossible but I don't trust bioware anymore to do it correctly. But the pieces are all there to make a great story in the Andromeda universe, so I really am not sure.
I agreed with everything you mentioned, with some caveats. The game definitely missed the mark as a whole, leaving worlds unfilled, already explored, and therefore removing one of the biggests selling points. To me, one of the best parts of the Original Trilogy was the amount of detail put into scenes, interactions, world building, and more. Yeah you didn't have the open world's in ME2 and ME3, but you had fleshed out sections that felt satisfying and LIVED IN. Everything about the game's environments left me wanting more just so that it would feel more believable. That and the outposts felt too generic at a point and unused. The game should have featured more growth (more colonists waking up, outposts improvements, Nexus construction). Also, your crew became enjoyable too late in the game. I didn't grow to like mosst of them till the latter 1/3 of the game.
Two things I liked though were the profiles for combat and the NON-Paragon/Renegade dialogue options. I am a Paragon guy usually, however, there are sometimes when I just want to say somehting harsh or mean because the character I have built would feel that way. In the OT, you step out of line once and you risk not having a dialogue option later. MEA avoided that and it felt better. I realized this after completing MEA and then going back to ME2 (Which holds up surprisingly well overall).
Overall, it felt like MEA double-downed on certain aspects of the gain, and the rest of the game suffered for it. It reminds me of Star Wars when comparing the Original Trilogy and the Prequels. The OT had the set-pieces and story/conflict, the prequels focused on the effects and CGI for more spectacle. MEA focused too much on the open-worlds and action. Both series suffered from those decisions, but the Sequel Trilogy of Star Wars is a show of hope for Mass Effect that it can be improved upon. I hope so badly for a sequel that will take the good and build upon it with a much deeper story and fleshed out characters.
An article came out which says the game had a fucked up production - the only "division" that was able to work 100% on the game were level designers. Others, for example the writers, worked only 2 years over the 5 year production effort, the animation team was understaffed, etc.
It's a long read - kotaku.com/the-story-behind-mass-effect-andromedas-troubled-five-1795886428
Not only did I like the ME3 endings, I also am on my 4th ME:A campaign. While it is not the greatest Bioware game, it is as good as other lesser ME titles. There are four new species: Angara, Kett, Remnant, and the unseen creator race.
The developers are quoted as having gone for a lighter mood to soften the clock-tick of the main campaign goals, freeing the player to explore more.......that is, to gather collectables, to play with the crafting system, to in short do all the crap that pads out AAA games (and is far too easily monetized in various ways). I get that "freedom to explore" and "an involving story" are largely incompatible. But I'm inclined to blame the model of how a major game is conceived now, as stacks of easily re-purposed assets and endless combat and fetch quests used to fill out the run time.
I feel like nostalgia is a part of the reason the game is being so negatively received but it's definitely far from the biggest reasons, I came into the mass effect series with Andromeda. I liked it, i didn't love it, but it had some really good moments and sidequests but they were really spread thin and far apart. Some of the visuals on the planets were really good when i sat there and looked at them, but when i snapped out of it and explored around I cant think of a single PLANET sidequest i actually enjoyed except for maybe the Kadara one, but it fell flat and some others. Since i didn't play mass effect until after i beat Andromeda I liked the characters, liam had one good sidequest but his personality flip flopped and sort of just pissed me off. I also found cora annoying, jall's voice actor was really good and had some decent moments. I liked Peebee for the most part, but i really liked Vetra and drack the most. I see Vetra called the female Garrus which is true, but i didn't know who garrus was at the time ;) After i beat the game it actually left me wanting to play more even though it was a average experience, so i went ahead and played 1-3. LOVED IT. Though I could barely stand playing through 1 in all honesty, it's mostly because of how it hasn't aged well, and i really didn't enjoy any of the crew members that much except joker. Garrus and Tali actually bored the shit out of me (but little did i know they'd be my favorites out of the entire series), but they got the job done for the most part. Then I played two and that's where it really picked up, then three and in short im a super fan of the series and have played through it twice. Andromeda could have been better, but i feel it was better than mass effect one by far in my eyes. But that doesn't excuse it from failing to follow the path 2-3 showed them. If a sequel is made for Androemda (which might never happen because of recent events) it could even be on par with the franchise if done right it has allot of potential still, they only explored one cluster out of the galaxy.
hi. your comments about all the same animals and only angara is easily explained by the jordaan terraforming the cluster. They made them all. And as the jordaan story line hasn't been finished (hopefully in DLC) we don't know why.
while selling to EA did benefit Mass Effect 2 it hurt Bioware with Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda. Fact is that when Casey Hudson left, he took the heart and soul of the series with him. We had 10 years of great game series, it's time to move on.
3:36 to 4:10 is the major problem...nice vid.
Yeah.._ solid review. Re attacks using squad member powers; could be down in real time; i.e... After target aquisition, left or right D pad to select squad member then actvate powe- reserve D-pad + (x) to locate squad member. Doesn't have to be the old wheel select system. The lack of polish is a major for me. Two play throuhgs yet I wasn't able to use the favorite system in any of them. WTF. Update 1.7 didn't seem to make a difference there and can still fall thrugh the map using asari sword .... The former seriously limited my profile experimentation. I saw others were able to use it, so I guess its either my machine at fault, or an extremely non intuitive save and assign system. I couldn't even work out how to save a profile
Given how powerful the builds can be, I think insanity mode is too easy. And I want the chance to use my powerful weapons in multiplayer...Plus heaps of guys reakon PvP option needs to be offered... Let players have a level and non level enabled arena so that people can test both their builds and skills and attract people to play... At the moment only a few play it.
Imagine if they had yet to leave their home planet. So you fly away... the end...
After I've completed it for the first time I was like "It isn't too bad". Then I replayed the original triology and now I can't touch it again...
One thing that doesn't get talked about a lot is how streamlined the other races in the game have become. There's virtually nothing alien about them except for their looks. Krogans used to be impulsive and volatile, now the 2 main Krogans are among the most level headed characters in the game.
I'd like to think that the Andromeda Initiative attracted a certain kind of Krogan, and that explains why they seem more level headed.
I use to think the same way as you. But once I realized that Mass Effect Andromeda is establishing a new foundation and to treat it separately from the trilogy I began to accept the game for what it was, a new start. If we had the same team that made the trilogy I believe we would of gotten a better game. It's clear BioWare/EA did not want to deviate from the formula that's worked for them. With the announcement that Mass Effect has been put on hold, it seems this will be the last Mass Effect game in the series. The Mass Effect Trilogy is incredible. Mass Effect Andromeda could never have lived up to it.
Nice review, very good points! It's like the A-team left after the trilogy, and we got a too rushed job by the B-team with the many holes you mention. I basically enjoyed it anyway though and am sad that EA/Bioware wrote it off rather than trying to fix it in DLC's and sequels. It was still the best Sci-Fi game franchise out there! So many unanswered questions that would have been fun to unravel...
I hated all the DA games because of their pretty unplayable and lame combat, have no use for more mediocre Sci-Fi with even more Star Wars junk, so just hope the "new IP" doesn't totally suck and can live up to the hype - but with recent news, it sounds like it's getting sucked into the same "let's cut corners" black hole, with the same problems that this game suffered!
Man, I had forgotten how awesome the music from the first Mass Effect was.
But yeah, a shame this series died such miserable death.
I would've loved to see a plot where humans are forced to become the 'alien invaders' by a few unfortunate circumstances. Say, if the Kett had technology (and xenophobia) on par with Earth of the 1950's, and the humans have to offload a huge number of settlers on the Kett's home planet because they've found no other hospitable location and they're running out of resources.
Yeah, that definitely would have raised some moral questions, which would have potentially been fascinating.
My take, and I have played all the me games is this was kinda like ME1,,, an introduction. Yes, it could and should have taken more time to make the characters more in depth, but again, even though they are on hiaatus now, I will patiently see what develops in DLC, and updates. Here is where the game can only get better. I understand the let down feeling and that was equally due to the hype and our own personal expectations. I just keep in mind that this is only an introduction and as such there should be more and better to come if fans just give it a chance.
Everytime i see any Mass Effect music or footage it makes me want to replay the trilogy. Andromeda just made me miss the original trilogy, i wish they would just release a remake of the trilogy for PS4. Mass Effect 2 being the best.
I like the music, some moments could've used more/ less up beat moments the ending for example was really up beat which wasn't bad considering what happened the intro music was ok... but for me it didn't stick, like when i think of mass effect (1) in particular i can still remember the start screen music and the galaxy map music, and its just there. but maybe thats because I've had years of playing it.
ME:A is ok, but I think it lacks the passion of the originals. You hit the nail on the head when you said it keeps things light hearted and only briefly touches on deep moments. The original, while still having humorous moments, felt foreboding and high stakes. It's hard to feel that at any point in ME:A as even the husks in the original felt more threatening than the Kett. I could go on, but ME:A still provides a story in the ME universe, just unfortunate that all those involved in it would rather bury their head in the sand put the series on ice, than acknowledge they messed up and work harder on a ME:A2.
"This was an opportunity to try new ideas" completely agree I wanted it to focus on exploration as well. You should feel what the explorers and frontiersmen did in the past on new undiscovered continents.
Instead it's all bland but looks nice. Also I feel like Anthem sucked most of the resources that was intended for Mass Effect Andromeda. I think Andromeda only got a third of what Anthem got for its budget which is insane.
About what you said in the end about if this was someone's first ME game, that's me actually. I understand why people have issues with it, but I think it's okay, yes the facial features are bad at times and one or two characters are pretty lame (cough Liam cough ) but the I enjoy it, and I think that counts for something. And about the original trilogy, I really do want to play it, and Andromeda for me was a good introduction.
Another big thing that ruins the experience is the way the whole Initiative is represened. It seems like the mission was planned by a 12 years old, with no thoughs on what difficulties one might encounter, and this often seem to collide with the coherence of the world. For example, the Initiative is so technologically advanced that it is able to identify colonizable worlds from the milk way, 2.5 million light years away from Andromeda, yet when the player arrives they are running out of food. Hydroponic coltures are something that exist today and might provide for the new citadel (I forgot its proper name), yet nobody ever though about building them, just in case the s*it hit the fan. Hell, you even see trees inside the new citadel but they could not figure out a way to grow crops indoor?Or we want to speak about the fact that in the first few minutes of the game the ark straight runs into a giant death cloud spanning thousand of kilometers that somehow no sensor had picked up nor someone had spotted, despite the fact that there is a huge window in the front of the bl**dy CIC?Also, somehow you are able through your AI to translate the language and even interface with the technology of a long dead civilization in mere seconds. And you also know immediately what all those pieces of machinery do, which is terraforming planets to conditions that are, surprise surprise, ideal for human colonization. Imagine if the conditions you meet on the first planet are the ones that are actually being sought by the remnant technology and you go around the galaxy f*cking things up without knowing...Again, you run around hostile planets with your rover and never, ever, someone thinks about mounting a gun on it. I am not asking for a mobile piece of artillery, but a machine gun to deal with the Ket that spawn endlessly without having to exit the vehicle, otherwise running the risk of getting blown up by small-weapon fire.Finally, as you point out, some of the missions are poorly designed, and sometimes offer you false moral choices that do not make any sense. For example, at the beginning of the game you can investigate an alleged murder (SPOILERS AHEAD). You find out that the Turian did not kill the other guy, but did indeed shoot him with intention to kill. So, instead of doing the most sensible thing, which is release the Turian for the murder and charge him for attemped murder, you are presented with the false moral choice: do you keep him in prison for a crime he did not commit (murder), or you release him knowing he did commit another crime (attempted murder)? Sorry for the big wall of text, I did not anticipated to write so much but I got carried away. The way this game does things so superficially and uninspiringly really grinds my gears. It really is a wasted opportunity.
I felt the exact same way as you more or less - the thing I couldn't get over with Andromeda - and it's to do with a lack of time and experience on the team's part -
There was no world-building. Or barely any.
That's where the trilogy excelled so much, Mass Effect 2 was an exhilarating game experience the first time I played it, and the formula continued to ME3 as well.
But why didnt we get any history about the planets like Voeld and Elaaden? Or barely anything. They're just pretty landscapes, there's hardly any interest or things to interact with, few points of interest, and few truly good sidequests.
We didn't get to learn about any of the factions in depth, the codex had no entries on the fauna of the game, like the flying creatures on Havarl.. the game gives you what it gives you and that's it, if it weren't for the pretty graphics, it wouldn't be immersive at all, which I think it already struggles to deliver on.
6.75/10 - whereas all the previous games scored a 9/10 for me.
Different ideals for a game that's meant to be open world, but there was corner cutting happening all across for sure, for a team that inexperienced, it could have used another year in development. Andromeda is an alright game, but I don't think it will reach the fantastic status of the original trilogy.
It's true, the original had those glorious codex entries which, along with the silky smooth vocals of the narrator, made the lore feel plausible and real. Andromeda doesn't have that attention to detail.
its like avatar last airbender and legend of korra
Totally Agree.
Unfortunately I doubt there will be a NEXT game in the series, or even DLC.
I even loved ME3 with it's flawed ending, and replayed it many times to get the different perspectives based on the choices I made.
I haven't replayed Andromeda, I really can't see the point. A lot of the choices are just not there in the new game, probably because the devs rushed the game.
I don't know how they rushed it, they had long enough to make the game, it's just that nothing in MEA has polish or originality.
There is no exploration which is what the game is SUPPOSED to be about, because other races have been to the planets you visit.
The characters are just cut'n'paste from ME, and the exceptions are pretty bad as well. The character of PB annoyed the crap out of me, I just wanted the flush her out the airlock.
It's a shame you DON'T get the choice to not let her join the team (unlike Dragon Age Inquisition).
MEA is the last game I ever purchase on pre-order, I was left so bitterly disappointed having paid for a Tripple A title with so much lore and development behind it, to receive this steaming pile of poop.
If you do not want the humor, there are other dialogue choices to select. The Player controls the responses for the most part.
they took out shepard and got some kid who is so green he pisses grass
ME:A is not a bad game. It is a mediocre game. If the original ME had as uninspired characters and writing as ME:A I would have never gotten into it. When I finished ME and the credits were rolling I felt much like right after I watched the Matrix - like I had just gotten through a fantastic movie. I even bought that song by the Faunts that plays at the end because it reminds me of the great experience. I haven't felt that yet. Maybe the characters deepen later in the game but ME had me interested in the likes of Tali, Wrex etc. from the first time I really interacted with them. Even the choice between Kaiden and Ashley was a tough one, and if you couldn't talk down Wrex at Virmire? People have reloaded saves to avoid killing him. Would you have that fear of losing a crew member in ME:A, even Drax? I wouldn't.
i can forgive them if the only problem is the facial animation alone but the lack of cinematic quality of every conversation is what ruins the game for me. all human just stand there while talking which is pretty creepy to say the very least and if they don't just stand there with eyes wide open they move exactly like everyone else and when i say everyone i really mean EVERYONE because from aliens to humans all they do is poke their wrists.
The games whole story just felt cliche.the game made it seem like you were the only one that could save everyone yet your were not.There were other Pathfinders with SAM implants that could have saved it as well.The original series explained why you were the only one that could save the galaxy.You were the only one that could unite an entire galaxy and fight everyone who stood in your way.To beat the ket in this game all you had to do was push a bunch of buttons which other pathfinders could do since there SAM's were still operational.
The only thing that I strongly disagree with, is the combat portion. You can't say it's better, because it's totally different. And that's why I hate it. That's probably the reason why I didn't even finished the game. Because I could've forced myself to endure everything else, as long as I get the Mass Effect gameplay, aka the tactical-squad-rpg based combat. Well.... I didn't get that either...
On everything else, I 100% agree.
Likewise, I play more for the characters than the shoot-ups. Graphics are disappointing. Planets are underdeveloped (cityscape, jungle, desert, desert with sink holes, desert with radioactive water). I found the ship crew (and the ship itself) very boring and sometimes annoying. The pyjak was the most interesting ship member. Too many story lines left unresolved (eg, saved AI, certain choices Ryder made along the way). And where is Reyes Vidal? He was the most interesting potential love interest. I think Danny Messier should link up with supply officer Kim Connor, who would stabilize him. I would like to see Vladimir Brecka developed, and maybe Hawkins MacIntyre. Architecture could be improved. Like ME1-3, there is a lot of wasted space in ships and buildings (but not as many cables lying loosely on the floor). The bar on Nexus (Vortex) could use a performer, not just someone who stands on stage doing nothing. The Cultural Center is a waste of space. ... I've seen the Anthem preview. I wish that effort have been put into Andromeda and will be put into a sequel. Despite the graphics, I don't expect to buy Anthem; I don't see a promising story or characters. (Also, I'm protesting Anthem as a usurper of the effort that should be going into Andromeda.) I cared about the characters in ME1-3. I replayed the stories several times but am always reluctant to finish the final scenes because it means leaving them. That's what I want from Andromeda. (Also, I'd like to see the Ryder SAM differentiated from other SAMs.)
Every one always complains and focuses on the graphic issues. I could care less about the graphics if the writing, story, gameplay and direction was on point.
Personally what I would have LOVED to see is more focus on actually making colonies. Smaller sandboxes. More planets. More customizability of your outposts. Colonies separated into Trade/Research/Military.
Keep exploring to find more planets that YOU choose to have an outpost on. Not because its scripted for you to have one on. Maybe you choose a barren moon because it has a crap ton of ore but it would need a ton of Credits to support it for life support/food. Maybe you stumble across an actual rare golden world but its overrun with Kett. So you go on a killing spree to clear the way for a colony. Which would be like clearing a huge dungeon and would be legit difficult.
These could be procedural quests with only handful of hard locked voiced dialoged.
If you want more research points make a research colony and unlock science cryo pods to actually place on that colony. But maybe Kett/other stuff could attack your Outposts and if you don't respond to them in time you loose Research/Credits/or even personnel.
Military outposts would place Turrets and Marines in your Outposts allowing them to defend them selves even without your aid. A Well established Military outpost could even aid and support other outposts in where you didn't decide to plop down some military pods in it.
They really missed an opportunity here to sweep away with the shitty MMO quest system and make system that could have been near infinite repayable with random procedural event quests long after you beat the main quest.
Your ideas do sound cool.
Thank you, kind of my pipe dream for a Space Exploration based open world Bioware RPG. Oh wait that was supposed to be Andromeda....shiet. We will never get a game with potential like that again...
You made some good points in the video, but to rehash the problem of animations after they've been fixed is a bit short sighted. I'm glad you admitted your bias through the questions you have because they are all valid. I agree that they played it way too safe and they need to take more chances. This was an excellent game and it could've been better, but it was worth every dollar from my pre-order.
To be fair to myself, I didn't talk about the animations; more so the bugs, which I encountered a lot of.
Glad you enjoyed the game though.
The most obvious bugs were fixed but the unnatural lip movement for example are still there.
The only good thing about this game was the overall visual experience and nothing more. It is not a Mass Effect game that is for sure.
5 years for this shit EA make a big mistake and kill this game, it's shame
What is it with these writers thinking that we need to have characters constantly making wisecracks and corny one-liners. This is exactly why I was so put off by the new Gears of War characters in Gears 4. Enough of that shit.
Cuz gamers needs to laugh while they shoot things I guess.
I'm glad I came across this video cause I wanted to see why this game got so much hate. I'm new to this series so as whose new to the series, I for one really enjoyed this game! I didn't buy this game on release I got it when the 1.06 patch was out so I didn't run into the problems that people were having. I really enjoyed the story and I liked everyone in the crew. I thought Jaal was a badass. I agree I felt like you don't discover new planets because they were already discovered. But I disagree about how you felt the humans were always bland but not the aliens. I bought the trilogy recently and I'm almost finished with the first game. But I've seen tons of videos and from what I've seen, the aliens are the bland ones and the humans have more to them. Everyone always give a character like Ashley shit but seem to be ok with Liara. As I'm currently playing the first game Liara comes off as very bland from her speech to her personality. It made it a very easy decision for me to have Ashley as my love interest instead of Liara. I don't get the internets obession over characters like Tali. The innocent, fan girly type who acts much younger than she is. I don't find that attractive or sexually attractive. From experience, I find Andromeda to be a better a game than the first. Maybe it's cause it's outdated. Or maybe it's because I'm just used to what you can do in it. But in the first, the planets are empty and make me not want to return to them. I like it but not seeing the big deal. Maybe the 2nd and 3rd are better but so far I like Andromeda more. By the way I had more to say but I was working and my phone would keep refreshing so I would keep having to redo what I typed. Sorry that this is long.
Glad you liked the game, and if it got you into the Mass Effect series than that's great!
I agree, but come on - the whole exploration part of Mass Effect 1 was just bad. Empty planets that look like an intern was having 10 min of fun with a map editor.
And meeting only the Ankara as a native species isn't that strange since in the original theory there's also hardly more than one or two sapient ones in a cluster. Heck, most of them have actually zero intelligent races.
One of the tings that bothered me most is the huge number of meaningless sidequests. Why not combine 10 of them with a compelling story? IMO no one would've complained if there were only 5 big, compelling sidequests on a planet rather than 20 small, Ubi Soft-esque ones.
And why can't I have more interactions with my twin? A biological brother/sister as a crew member would've been the most interesting human companion since ME2's Jack and Miranda. Heck, why even kill the father if you don't include any big mourning scenes. Just pack him in a wheelchair and let him be an advisor on the Tempest. Having a biological family as part of the crew would've been a whole new territory to explore for Mass Effect.
I think they focus too much on comedy in Andromeda.
best "review" i've seen so far on this game, good job!
Great review. You've said it all, mister. Keep up the good work!
Thank you!
ME Andromeda is a missed opportunity for greatness. What a massive disappointment. The game was the biggest disappointment in gaming history...at least in my opinion. Pathetic Bioware...so pathetic.
I enjoyed the game a lot, yet I know that it could have been so much more.
It's such a great shame. Very disappointed.
Great review. It sums up exactly how I felt having played and completed this game.
Great vid
10:30 is when you started speaking facts
All your comments are absurd! Mass Effect is a masterpiece that only needs more content and expansion.
For the same reasons everyone already knows because it's been talked about so many times it become a fad for youtubers.
My only problem was the ending and aliens. Kett were interesting and (sort of) unique. The Angara were boring and were almost identical to all the races in the Milky Way in all but appearance.
Although there were other alien races. You can find a codex entry that talks about the species of the Andromeda galaxy taken by the kett. This would likely be included in the sequels or dlc
It's definitely a bad game IMO. It has nothing going for it except the combat. Maybe I'm biased because of the original trilogy but I don't think so. And it should definitely keep going with the Andromeda setting but with a different protagonist and band of characters, the unexplored clusters and systems should not be populated at all except for the wildlife (Though I have no clue how they're going to explore them because there are no Mass Relays but I'm sure that stupid Dyson Sphere can help on that front). I'm just so disappointed with this game. Great video btw, it's like you're the voice of my disappointments.
Galahad bad game...what was fallout 4??
Better than this shit. The writing was definitely better for one. Not good mind you, but better than this.
Galahad how was fallout 4 better than mass effect? Because it's not.
Galahad facial animations, gameplay, story, graphics..everything in fallout 4 is worse. Even the side quests are worse
Galahad I hate videos like this and the idiots that agree with it
The word "Unfortunate" is the best word I can find for this game. Some aspects I found very interesting, the murder of Jien Garson and dissent with the Kett were really interesting ideas that went nowhere. While the core story was interesting, colonising planets became a chore, side missions became annoying and character missions felt weak only because of how little I cared about any of the characters. Not to mention the score. The Trilogy had era defining soundtracks. Andromeda had a vaguely orchestral thing going on. Can't even remember it.
The game mechanics themselves were wonderful. Loved the Nomad, the jetpacks, the combat (Though squadmates felt utterly for show) and other mechanics. I also really liked Ryder as a character, but I feel really let down about how the promised "open" morality system worked. In the Trilogy, use of the paragon/renegade system fundamentally defined what type of person your character was. In Andromeda, you're a slightly sarcastic or slightly emotional or slightly serious version of the same character, each time. Shepard could be ruthless, kind, loving or distant. Ryder...Is just kind of Ryder.
The core story of finding Arks, while fairly interesting didn't go far enough. I kept waiting for the story to really get going. To find out what Tann was hiding, to find out more about the "Benefactor" to really get into the most interesting parts of the game. I wanted to shoot Tann dammit! But none of that happened. We got a weird ending on a dyson sphere that just made me wish I was playing ME1. I wanted to love it. I like it, and I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. It's all so unfortunate.
Yeah, there definitely wasn't enough political intrigue or use of characters like Tann.
And I was actually one of the people who thought getting rid of the paragon/renegade system was a good thing, but in hindsight it really does throw away the branching morality path that was so compelling in the ME trilogy.
Imedias Rez It can be done better: the blue Paragon/red renegade system. What was awful about those choices was they were a guaranteed win in any conversation. If you are trying to get someone to do something or avoid a fight, etc, just pick the blue or red answer and it's a sure win.
Deus Ex does it better. There is no color coded conversation choices. You need to read the target well during a conversation and make the right choices during conversation to "win". If you lose a conversation, you fight or you have to find another way to accomplish that specific task. Perfection.
I would've liked a system where your character's morality develops through the game as you make choices. Not colour coded, just unmarked choices like choosing to be diplomatic or fight, pull a trigger or retreat.
I wanted to be able to shape Ryder into a ruthless survivor, or a peaceful explorer with my choices. It would've been brilliant to decide what type of Pathfinder you were. Peaceful, or imperial. What we got was bland, the Paragon/Renegade system, while increasingly flawed as the series went on, was at least better than that.
I'll be honest, never played mass effect till andromeda. I kinda thought the whole idea was amazing, and there weren't many glitches for me, and when there was they were really funny. The only annoying one I've encountered was in Drack's last scene in the loyalty mission, because of all the stuff that was happening (levitating t-posed Ryder and Drack) but all in all I guess a new person to the series would really like andromeda.
Interested in why Andromeda came out the way it did? Check out this article: kotaku.com/the-story-behind-mass-effect-andromedas-troubled-five-1795886428
A fascinating look at the behind the scenes drama of Andromeda. Frankly it's a miracle this game didn't come out a total disaster, and explains why the writing wasn't up to snuff.
I've played it for 140+ hours and you are on point with your review... I disagree on one thing tho: Jaal is awesome, but because he's Jaal and not because he's the Angara. His personal journey is the most compelling in my opinion. Peebee was terrible...
It's a fun game, but it's not worthy of the franchise name unfortunately...
Andromeda had the same feel as pretty much every other "RPG" game that has been created lately. Just enough story to tell you a bit of why you are doing what you are doing, but that's just a covering for a pleasing combat system.
The original Mass Effect games did have a much better storyline, in depth side quests that felt like they actually affected the world around you in a meaningful way. The side quests in this game did little to actually affect the rest of the game it feels like.
I mean honestly how many good story based RPGs have we had in the recent years? Gone are the days of Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect trilogy, Fable, Breath of Fire, Lufia, etc that had engaging storylines even in older games that were more linear RPGs.
I picked up on most of what you said on my initial play through. I don't however think it's as bad as the rest of the internet says. A solid 7/10.
I felt that it's basically improved on a lot of the faults in ME1, and for the most part I stand by that. After all it wasn't until ME2 that I fell in love with the characters, universe, everything else that makes Mass Effect, Mass Effect. So I'm still a fan. But I do agree with the overall statement that MEA was a missed opportunity.
This was my first in the franchise, coming from DA I. I enjoyed it 8/10... then I played the OG trilogy. Went back to play this and it was obvious what was wrong
good analysis but id have to disagree on me 1-3 being about exploration. there was always an overarching narrative. with character stories being prominent.
unlike elder scrolls you weren't just dicking around.
me 1 chasing saren me 2 collectors and loyalty missions and finally me 3 with the reaper war. at best id say the exploration was a distraction and at worst inconsequential.
Andromeda is lazy, predictable and boring. It's basically a copy if the original trilogy in terms of story and characters.
I find it insulting to cram in story so similar to the original with characters filling same archetypes. You have not wrex, not liara, not ashley, not garus and not jacob... I mean it's just so in your face it hurts.
Only the Hellius Cluster is discovered and explored; still plenty left of the Andromeda galaxy remains. Strongly disagree with the review.
I like the story of the Angara beeing developed by the Remnant for a purpose. But it isnt developed far enough to make it immersive. The Keth are a disappointment to say the least. I could banter the entire game (open world travel, yeah on 4 planets...) The story itself is the base that is wrong, the writers werent capable to make me love it.
Dude come on. The exploration in ME1 was shit and yes Andromeda did it better. Any way it goes the series needs to ditch exploration. It has never done it well, so just get rid of it.
The game looks nice but it's only a thin layer on a piece of shit of a game. I prefer to drive the Mako in ME 1 than eating this shit.
Great review. I like that you point out the critic in well spoken way. And all the right points. Good job.
I enjoyed your video because I could see towards the end that to are at least open minded. I am playing Andromeda as my first mass effect game. And I honestly thought it is pretty fun. Even the driving around I don't mind. Just not all the cut scenes of leaving a planet just to change the color of my outfit. Great video. After watching yours and several others. I'll be playing the original trilogy right after Andromeda.
Thanks, I try not to be one of those people who rants and raves without substance. Have fun playing the original trilogy!
I disagree with the comment about it being light and fluffy. Ryder Is Not a Soldier. Wasn't meant to be. He or She hasn't grown into their own to be serious. It is a young cast still not yet grown in their roles. I like the trilogy. And Andromeda.
Just because Ryder is not a soldier and the characters are young and inexperienced doesn't mean they should be treating one of the most significant and dangerous exoduses of human (and galactic) history like a high school field trip, which is how they are written a lot of the time.
But I like that! I get so tired of the tiresome trope of super soldier. In games like F4 or even Elder Scrolls I chose not to play the stereotypical knight or soldier, I play the scientist or the scholar. I like the fact that we don't have those heavy soldiery military esque vibe. To be frankly honest, you do have the choice to not chose the super jokey responses in the dialogue wheel to. You can play Ryder straight. Shepard had no personality, well little of it. And he was like, me soldier, me do this, me do that, blah hero of the galaxy. That's fine don't get me wrong I looooove the Mass Effect trilogy. But it gets tiresome to play through such a stiff archetype. I almost like the Starlord, Guardian Galaxy vibe from Andromeda.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want the super soldier trope either, in fact I would have preferred Andromeda get as far away from that as possible, which I don't think it does. Nor do I want a lack of humor, I just think the humor needs to be more finely placed and appropriate.
And Ryder isn't the problem so much as the supporting characters, who do crack jokes constantly and in general just don't seem to be too worried even though at any moment they could be stranded in another galaxy with no hope of survival.
I'm glad you liked it though, this is just my opinion, don't let it get in your way of playing the game.
Oh no I am having more fun with the conversation. Personally I don't think Andromeda is the greatest game in the world. I find it passable. I don't think it deserves near as much negative criticism as it got. And I do like some of the characters, I find some of the supporting cast interesting. Lexi is one character I can think of who doesn't make snide humorous quips. Neither does Addison or Suvi. Personally I also think a lot of the dialogue delivery is hit and miss. There Are problems and I am not ignoring them, I simply like the fluffy Guardians of the Galaxy, not cut out for this vibe.
What I can say is the animation was poor. The dialogue delivery Is hit and Miss. Like Alec Ryder in the very beginning with his speech, which is impacting and serious, then randomly the "let's go make history" sounds rushed and like from a completely different take. I understand now more that Addison was to come off like a cutting and horrible bitch, but the voice actress does not sell it for me. Vivienne from DAI is more of a bitch than Addison. She has no punch in her delivery. Nothing that would convince me that Addison is meant to be the "manipulating, cuniving, asshat" the other characters say she is.
Tann also has some really hit or miss delivery. I mean the voice acting is serviceable. And that's my main issue. Maybe what you see as a failure to take things seriously is simply the chose the wrong audio files, wrong cuts to insert into these games.
I agree, some of the supporting characters are good. Like I said, Drack is genuinely a cool character, though it's easy for a Krogan to be awesome. Except for Morda...
And I did enjoy Peebee, she's like wide eyed discovery personified.
And yeah, the voice acting was hit or miss, and that probably contributes to the problems of Andromeda. I know it probably sounded like I hated the game, but like I said, the premise of Mass Effect is still entertaining and effective even when the story isn't developed to it's full potential. I don't regret my time with it, but I don't know that I'll ever replay it all the way through again, though I might surprise myself.